LIBRARY 



OF CONGRESS, 

.1 zri\ 



Shelf 



STATES OP AMERICA. 



POLE ON WHIST. 



OPINIONS OP THE PREPS. 



**Nerer hare we seen a more attractive little book on the great gut* 
ject of whist than the volume now before us. . . . With only a verj 
moderate liking for what is really the best game of cards still in vogue, 
the reader easily gains an amount of very interesting information, con- 
veyed in a pleasantly colloquial manner, that is like the remarks of a 
skilful- friend at your elbow during the progress of a trial game. It wiL 
open up the science of the game to those who have previously played 
hap-hazard, or have failed to appreciate the science that may be in 
eluded even in a domestic amusement." — Illustrated Times. 

u A very interesting and useful essay on the theory of the game. The 
author prides himself, and we think with justice, on being the first to 
draw from a single principle the whole theory of the game. There ia 
nothing throughout his argument in which we do not concur, and we 
strongly advise all whist players to read it with attention. "We cannot 
do better than recommend this little treatise.'* — Daily Xews. 

'This little work is a praiseworthy attempt to make whist simpler 
and easier by showing that the rules of the best modern play are not 
mere arbitrary conventions, but depend on certain detinite logical prin- 
ciples, easily understood and as easily remembered. The author states 
that the system here laid down, although it correspond s accurately with 
the best club play, is yet specially adapted for domestic circles, and in 
particular for teaching the game to the young, who. when they learn in 
this way, find it easy and attractive. We can vouch for the truth of 
this statement, and cordially recommend Dr. Pole's little work to a!2 
families who encourage and practise this noble game."" — G-RAPHio. 

" We have but little reason for dilating at any length on the nature or 
excellences of the work : but we can truly say that we have re-read it, 
not only with pleasure, but we hope with profit. We gladly recommend 
this new edition of Dr. POLE'S work to our readers, but few of whom, 
no matter how well they play the game, we feel convinced will regret 
having studied it, whilst the majority will return to it again and again 
for counsel and advice." — ERA. 



* t * Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail postage free, on receipt 
cf price, §1.00, by 

G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers* 

Madison Square. New York. 



THE THEORY 



MODERN SCIENTIFIC GAME 



WHIST. 



BY 

WILLIAM POLE, F.E.S. 

MUS. DOC. OXON. 



From the Last London Edition, 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

THE LAWS AND RULES OF WHIST, 

FROM 

"THE JP O It TLA NJD CLUB" CODE. 



NEW YORK: 

Copyright, 1879, by 

G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers. 

LOXDON : LONGMAN & CO. 

M.DCCC.LXXIX. 



1h 



PREFACE TO THE TENTH EDITION. 



The INCREASING demand for this little work warrants 
the belief that the attempt made therein to elevate the 
character of Whist, and to facilitate its practice in the 
hest form, has not been without success. 

It is matter of notoriety that a sound knowledge of the 
principles of the modern scientific game is much more 
frequently met with, both among club players and in pri- 
vate society, than it was ten or twelve years ago. This 
result is undoubtedly owing to the rise of a new class of 
Whist literature, explaining the game in a more logical 
and systematic way ; and the recent extended discussion 
of the subject in some of our best critical periodicals is 
sufficient to show that it has acquired an interest, in a 
literary and philosophical point of view, which it rever 
had before. 

It is sometimes said that the systematic study of the 
game, so strongly insisted on in this work, tends to make 
it a matter of routine, and to discourage the freedom of 
individual skill. This is a great mistake. It is indeed 
essential that the foundation of all good play should be 
systematic knowledge ; but it is not; pretended that the 
rules are to be considered as inflexible. In the latter por- 
tion of Chapter IY. many cases are mentioned in which 
strict play should be departed from ; and in the present 
edition it has been thought desirable to enlarge at some 
length (in Appendix B) on one of the most important of 
these cases — namely, playing with a bad partner. 

This condition, although of such frequent occurrence, has 
been but little noticed hitherto in Whist books, and it is 
hoped that the remarks now offered will show what an 
important influence it may exercise on the practice of the 
game. 

W. P. 

Athen^eum Club. 



PREFACE. 



It is believed that the manner herein adopted of treat- 
ing the Theory of the game of Whist is, in a great 
measure, new. Some of the later works published on 
Whist have been more explanatory than the early ones, 
but still they have consisted at best of merely practical 
rules, without reference to their theoretical basis ; and 
the Author is not aware that the attempt to trace the 
whole practice of the modern scientific game back to one 
grand fundamental principle, namely, that of the combi- 
nation of the hands of the two players, has ever befora 
been made. It has often indeed been said that each 
player must endeavor to play his partner's cards as well 
as his own ; but this has usually been only given as an 
incidental maxim of practice ; it has not been treated as 
the main principle of action from which the whole play 
springs. 

The nearest approach to this attempt the Editor haa 
met with is in a little French book, entitled " Genie du 
Whist, meconnu jusqu'a present. Par le General B. de 
Vautre. Paris : 4 e edition, 1847. " This author makes 
the true genius of Whist consist in what he propounds as 
the novel principle of the combination of the two hands ; 
or, as he expresses it, u l'auteur enseigne la maniere da 
jouer avec vingt-six cartes, selon son expression, et non 
pas avec treize, conime tout le monde." But as he waa 



PEEFACE. 



ignorant of the long-suit system of play, as a necessary 
means of carrying the combination principle into practice, 
he was obliged to form an imperfect system of his own, 
and therefore his explanations do not correspond with out 
modern game. 

The Author's experience leads him to believe that an 
exposition of the fundamental Theory of Whist will not 
only be satisfactory to accomplished players, by making 
clearer to them the principles they already act upon, but 
will be found of still greater advantage for teaching the 
game in the ordinary domestic circle. 

The young people of a family, especially, are often re- 
pelled from Whist by thinking it dull and difficult. 
Nothing can be more erroneous than such an idea: if 
learnt on proper principles it soon becomes an attractive 
amusement, as well as an admirable mental exercise, and 
to attain moderate proficiency in it is much easier than 
is usually supposed. 

But there are many players of more experience who 
take real pleasure in a domestic rubber, but who are 
still much in the dark as to the true merits of the game ; 
and it is desirable to impress on this large class how 
greatly the interest of their recreation would be increased 
if they would, by a little study of the principles of Whist, 
learn to play it in a more rational and systematic manner^ 

The practical rules and directions here deduced strictly * 
from the Theory, are identical with those sanctioned by 
the best modern authorities, and adopted by the best 
modern players. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAG! 

L — Introduction 9 

II. — Explanation of Technical Terms usar 

in the Modern Scientific Game . . 19 

III. — Theory of the Game 28 

IV. — Development of the Theory . . .39 

Its Influence on the Management of Tramps 39 
Management of Plain Suits. — Long Suit Lead 47 



Return of the Lead . . . .50 

Further Remarks on the Lead . . .55 
Other Applications of Theory . . .58 
Communication between the Partners . . GO 
On the Degree of Strictness with which Sys- 
tematic Play should be adhered to . .62 

V. — Rules and Directions for Play . , 67 

The Lead . . 68 

Second Hand 72 

Third Hand . • 74 

Fourth Hand 76 

Management of Trumps . • • .77 
General Directions . . ... 81 

?I— Conclusion 83 



vaii CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX A. 

PAOl 

Examples of Hands : . 95 

Example I. . .... . .96 

Example II. 98 

Example III. 100 

Example IV. . 102 

Example V. ..... 104 



APPENDIX B. 

On Modifications of the Rules, depending on 
the Style of Play of your Partner . . 106 

APPENDIX C. 

Rhyming Rules, Mnemonic Maxims, and Poc ket 
Precepts ... .... 127 



The Laws and Rules of Whist. Printed, ver- 
batim, from 4i The Portland Club " Code . . 129 



CHAPTER L 



INTRODUCTION. 

Whist is, without question, the best of all oui 
domestic games. The only other one which could 
lay claim to such a distinction is Chess ; but this 
has the disadvantage of containing no element of 
chance in its composition — which renders it too 
severe a mental labor, and disqualifies it from 
being considered a game, in the proper sense of the 
word. Whist, on the contrary, while it is equal 
to chess in its demands on the intellect and skill of 
the player, involves so much chance as to give 
relief to the mental energies, and thus to promote, 
as every good game should, the amusement and 
relaxation of those engaged. 

The high intellectual character of Whist becomes 
evident, if we consider the powers of the mind 
which its intelligent study and practice may call 
into action. To investigate thoroughly its funda- 
mental principles, we must bring to bear upon it, 
as we shall by and by have occasion to explain, 
leasoning of a high order. But, independently of 
the theory, the practice also involves considerable 
mental attainments. The observation must be 
keen, the memory active ; a considerable power of 
1* 



10 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



drawing inferences, and of tracing appearances t« 
fcheir causes, must be brought into use ; and we 
must exercise boldness, caution, prudence, fore- 
sight, care against deception, promptness of de- 
cision, soundness of judgment, fertility of resource, 
ingenuity of contrivance, and such a general course 
of thought and action as must, if it is to be suc- 
cessful, be dictated by competent and well-trained 
mental powers. 

Then Whist has peculiar moral and social rela- 
tions. It has been called, by those who do not 
understand it, an unsocial game ; but nothing can 
be more untrue. It is a perfect microcosm — a 
complete miniature society in itself. Each player 
has one friend, to whom he is bound by the 
strongest ties of mutual interest and sympathy; 
but he has twice the number of enemies, against 
whose machinations he is obliged to keep perpetual 
guard. He must give strict adherence to the 
established laws and the conventional courtesies of 
his social circle ; he is called on for candid and 
ingenuous behavior ; he must exercise moderation 
in prosperity, patience in adveisity, hope in doubt- 
ful fortune, humility when in error, forbearance 
to the faults of his friends, self-sacrifice for his 
allies, equanimity under the success of his adversa- 
ries, and general good-temper throughout all liisr 



INTEODUCTION. 



11 



transactions. His best efforts will sometimes fail, 
and fortune will favor his inferiors; but sound 
principles will triumph in the end. Is there noth- 
ing in all this analogous to the social conditions of 
ordinary life ? 

As an amusement, "Whist stands equally high. 
Consider its immense variety. A hand will last 
only a few minutes ; we may have a hundred of 
them in an evening ; and yet, throughout a player's 
whole life, no two similar ones will ever occur ! 
Each one will present some novel feature, offering 
special interest of the most diversified kind. Some- 
times the interest lies in your own cards, some- 
times in your partner's, sometimes in those of 
your adversaries. Sometimes you have almost 
nothing to do, sometimes everything turns on your 
play. The mixture of the unknown with the known 
gives unbounded scope for amusing speculation; 
the admirable combination of volition and chance 
affords a still wider field for observant interest : 
indeed, some philosophical players make the rubber 
a fertile field for the study of human character, for 
t 7 iie disclosure of which it is proverbially favorable. 

The only objection brought against Whist is 
that, being played for money, it may promote gam- 
bling. Apart from the consideration that it ia 
very unfitted for gambling purposes, the object ion 



12 



THEOEY OF WHIST. 



is untrue in fact. Good players, generally, like to 

play for stakes high enough to define well the 
interest taken in the game ; but the idea of gain^ 
which is the essential feature of gambling, enters 
as little into the mind of a Whist as of a Chess 
player. "We have sometimes heard of what are 
called " professional " players, who play with this 
object ; but, we believe, they are generally given a 
wide berth in good society. 

Whist has always been a favorite pursuit of 
great men. The most philosophical novelist of 
modern times uses it to illustrate his profound 
speculations ; and we have heard an eminent 
scholar and writer declare he considers it a revela- 
tion to mankind ! But we have the vox populi 
also in its favor ; for does not the proverb repre- 
sent the clever successful man as "playing his 
cards well " ? 

Considering the great popularity of Whist in 
this country, and the extent to which it is played 
in ail classes of society, it is really astonisliing to 
find how few people take the pains to play it well. 
It has been lemarked, by writers on the subject, 
that good players are very seldom to be met with, 
fine ones scarcely ever. And yet, how amply it 
repays a little trouble devoted to its acquisition ! 

How, then, is this strange deficiency to be ao 



IXTRODL CHOPS' . 



13 



counted for ? Simply because people do nob gener 
ally admit that Whist, like other branches of 
knowledge, requires study. It is commonly sup« 
posed that, after acquiring the simple construction 
of the game, practice alone will suffice to make a 
good player. This is a great mistake, as experience 
abundantly shows. "We continually meet with 
persons who have played Whist all their lives ; and 
yet who, though they may bring to bear on their 
play great observation, memory, and tact, play on 
so entirely different a system to that sanctioned and 
practised by real experts in the game, as scarcely 
to be fit to sit at the same table with them. 

We have already alluded to the wonderful variety 
to be found in the game of Whist ; and we may 
now add that this variety is manifested, not only 
in the distribution of the cards — which is the 
work of chance — but also in the playing of them, 
which depends on the human will. It is with this 
latter element that we have now more especially to do. 

Although the construction of the game is so sim- 
ple that it might be defined in a few words, and 
leamt by a child in a few minutes, yet such is the 
amazing scope it gives for individuality of play, 
that the same deal, or even the same hand of cards, 
might be played in an immense number of different 
ways, according to what the player's notions of 



14 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



good and bad play might be. And this variety in 
volves modes of treatment so different in theii 
character and principles, as really to merit the name 
of distinct games. Thus we often hear it said, " Such 
a man plays a game quite different from mine ; M 
and we find " the old-fashioned game," u the mod- 
ern game," " the domestic game," " the club game," 
u the scientific game," and so on, all spoken of as it 
they were separate things, agreeing only in the pri- 
mary features which distinguish Whist from other 
games at cards. 

Now it is a very natural inquiry, whether, among 
so many various modes and systems, differing so 
widely from each other, there is any one in partic- 
ular which may be identified and defined as superior 
to the others, and which consequently ought to be 
preferred for study ? If so, what is this system ? 
What is the theory on which it is based ? And on 
what grounds does its superiority rest ? 

It is the object of the present essay to endeavor 
to answer these questions. 

In the first place, is there any particular mode 
of playing Whist, which is so distinct from and so 
Superior to all others, as to merit being distin- 
guished as the best game ? It is very common to 
hear this denied, particularly by inferior players, 
who will argue that opinions vary, that they thinlr 



INTRODUCTION. 



15 



their own system as good as other people's, and so on, 
If by this they mean (as some of them do) that 
they consider the game as chiefly one of chance, and' 
that their amusement is as much promoted by one 
made of playing as another, we have nothing to say to 
them, except to suggest that Ci Beggar my neighbor 
or " Pope Joan " would be games better adapted to 
their capacities. But there are others more worthy 
of attention, who object to all rules and systems 
whatever, declaring that the play ought to be de- 
termined by the player's judgment and wil] alone ; 
and the objection is usually backed by the asser- 
tion, that play on any fixed system is often unsuc- 
cessful, which is, of course, only the necessary 
consequence of the large entrance of chance into the 
game. Self-taught players are extremely confused 
in their notions on this point. When they see good 
play fail to win, they will point out, with amusing 
ex post facto discrimination, how much more fortu- 
nate some other course would have been. But 
when good play does succeed, and especially when 
some clever master-stroke may have annihilated 
for them a hand of good cards, they will complain 
a how cross the cards run," as if the whole were en 
tirely due to accident ! 

The fact is, that, like almost everything else thai 
may be done in different ways, there is a best way 



16 



THEORY OF WHI81 



of playing Whist; and, although a very wide lati 
tude may always be left for individual judgment 
and skill, yet the existence of a system of play, pre- 
ferable to all others, is sufficiently proved by its 
acknowledgment by all the best writers and the 
best players, and by a tolerably near agreement, 
among all these authorities, as to what this system is. 

The immortal Hoyle appears to have been the 
first to perceive, a century and a quarter ago, that 
Whist was capable of being reduced to a scientific 
and logical system, of high intellectual merit ; and 
although his descriptions are somewhat obscure (as 
might naturally be expected in the first efibrts to 
describe a complicated new discovery), yet careful 
and persevering examination enables us to trace 
clearly in them the general nature of the system he 
founded. This has been adopted in its general 
form by all succeeding writers and players of emi- 
nence \ and, as might be expected, the constantly 
progressive experience of so long a period, and the 
attention devoted to the game by many powerful 
minds, have gradually developed the system into a 
more complete and perfect form, and have added to 
it modem improvements of much interest and value, 
tending still further to raise the intellectual charac- 
ter of the game. 

It is this general system, therefore, which is laid 



INTRODUCTION. 



17 



down by almost all writers of any authority, and 
practised by almost all players whose example is 
worth following; and we need no further proof 
that, as far as our knowledge at present extends, it 
is the best that ingenuity and skill have been able 
to devise.* It is worthy the appellation of a scien 
tific system, on account of the elevated reasoning it 
involves ; and, on this account, combined with the 
fact that some of its features are of late invention, 
we shall designate it as "The Modern Scientific 
Game." 

This system, as we have already said, essentially 
requires to be learnt and studied. It has been the 
result of long combined experience, and careful and 
intricate deduction, and it is scarcely possible for 
any one individual to arrive at the knowledge of it 
by his own practice, however extended, or his own 
judgment, however shrewd ; and he must therefore 
be content to be taught it, as studerts in other 
scientific branches of knowledge are. 

There has hitherto, however, been a great defect 
in the manner of teaching thin system. It has been 

* From actual trials, extending over a long period, the 
Author has seen reason to infer that the systematic com- 
bined game, explained in this treatise, gives an advantage ? 
in tke long ran, over unsystematic separate play, of about 
half a point in each rubber. 



18 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



the invariable custom to lay down practical rule* 
and directions for play, sometimes in their naked 
simplicity, and sometimes accompanied with more 
or less argument or explanation (as done to a cer- 
tain extent originally by Hoyle and Mathews), but 
always leaving the student to extract for himself, 
from this mass of detail, the general principles on 
which these rules were based. Just as if a student 
of chemistry were put into a working druggist's 
shop, and expected to acquire all his knowledge of 
the science, by inference, from the operations he 
was taught to carry on there. 

In other words, no attempt has ever been made 
to work out or to explain the fundamental theory 
of the game / and, believing that the thorough un- 
derstanding of this is the best possible preparation 
for using the rules aright, and for acquiring an in- 
telligent style of play, we propose to state this 
theory somewhat fully, and to show how it becomes 
developed in the shape of practical rules. 

But, before entering on this, it will be advisable 
to explain the meaning of some of the principal 
technical terms we shall have to employ. 



CHAPTER II. 



EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS? USED IN THB 
MODERN SCIENTIFIC GAME. 

Bring in. See Establish. 

Command. — You are said to have the command 
of a suit when you hold the best cards in it. If 
you have sufficient of them to be able to draw all 
those in the other hands (as would probably be the 
case if you had ace, king, queen, and two others), 
the command is complete / if not, it may be only 
partial or temporary. Commanding cards are the 
cards which give you the command. 

Conventional signals are certain modes of play 
designed purposely, by common consent, for the 
object of conveying information to your partner. 
The principle was sanctioned by Hoyle, and several 
of them are established and legalized in the mod 
ern scientific game ; as, for example, the signal for 
trumps ; the return of the highest from a short 
suit ; playing the lowest of a sequence ; discarding 
the highest of a suit of which you have full com 
mand, and so on. 

Disca' *d. — The card you throw away when you 
have none of the suit led, and do not trump it. In 
the modern game, your first discard should be from 
a short or weak suit. 



2C 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Establish. — A suit is said to be established when 
you hold the complete command of it. This may 
sometimes happen to be the case originally, but it 
is more common to obtain it in the course of the 
play by " clearing " away the cards that obstructed 
you, so as to remain with the best in your hand. 
It is highly desirable to establish your long suit as 
soon as you can, for which purpose not only your 
adversaries' hands, but also your partner's, must b6 
cleared from the obstructing cards. 

When your suit is once established, if the adver- 
saries' trumps are out, and you can get the lead, it 
is obvious you may make a trick with every card 
of it you hold ; and this is called bringing it in. 

The establishment and bringing in of long suits 
form the great distinguishing features of the mod- 
ern scientific game. 

False card is a card played contrary to the estab- 
lished rules or conventions of the game, and which 
therefore is calculated to deceive your partner as 
to the state of your hand ; as, for example, follow- 
ing suit with the highest or middle card of a 
sequence, or throwing away other than your lowest 
card. The play of false cards without very good rea- 
son is characteristic only of hopelessly bad players. 

Finessing is an attempt, by the third player, to 
make a lower card answer the purpose of a highei 



TECHNICAL TERMS. 21 

(which it is usually his duty to play) under the hope 
that an intermediate card may not lie to his left 
hand. Thus, having ace and queen of your partner's 
lead, you finesse the queen, hoping the fourth player 
may not hold the king. Or, if your partner leads a 
knave, and you hold the king, you may finesse or 
pass the knave, i.e., play a small card to it, under 
the hope that it may force the ace. The word is 
sometimes applied to cases where it is certain the 
inferior card will answer the purpose intended ; as, 
for example, where the left hand has already shown 
weakness. But this is clearly a misuse of the term, 
for unless there is a risk of the card being beaten, 
it is only ordinary play, and can involve no finessing 
— properly so called. 

You are said to finesse against the intermediate 
card, and sometimes also against the person who 
holds it ; but, as by the nature of the case it should 
be unknown where the card lies, the latter meaning 
is apt to create confusion. The person against 
whom you act is more correctly the fourth player. 

Forcing means obliging your partner or your 
adversary to trump a trick, by leading a suit o* 
which they have none. 

Guarded second, or second-best guarded, is the 
combination of the second-best card for the time 
being, with a small one to guard it against being 



22 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



taken by the best ; as, for example, king and a small 
one originally, or knave and a small one when the 
ace and queen have been played. 

This combination is an important one, having an 
advantage analogous to that of the tenace ; namely, 
that if the suit is led by your left-hand adversary, 
you are certain (bar trumping) to make your sec- 
ond-best card. 

Honors are the ace, king, queen, and knave oi 
trumps ; the term, however, is often applied to the 
same cards in plain suits. The ten and nine are 
sometimes called semi-honors. 

Leading through, or up to. — The person who 
leads is said to lead through his left hand adversary, 
and up to his right hand one, such being the direc- 
tion in which the play runs. 

Long cards are cards remaining in one hand 
when all the rest of that suit have been played. 

Long suit. — One of which you hold more than 
three cards. See Strength. 

Loose card means a card in hand of no value, and 
consequently the fittest to throw away. 

Make. — To make a card means simply to win a 
trick with it. 

Master card, or best candy means the highest card 
in at the time. Thus, if the ace and king were out, 
the master card would be the queen. This is some* 



TECHNICAL TEEM3. 



23 



times also called the "king card," a name likely ta 
cause confusion. 

Opening. — Term borrowed from chess, to denote 
the system on which you commence or open your 
game when you get your first lead. 

Plain suits are the three suits not trumps. 

He-entry. — A card of re-entry is one that wilt, 
by winning a trick, bring you the lead at an ad- 
vanced period of the hand. 

Renounce. — When a player has none of the suit 
Led he is said to renounce that suit. 

Revoke. — If he fails to follow suit when he has any 
of the suit, he revokes , and incurs a serious penalty. 

Ruffing is another word for trumping a suit of 
Vvhich you have none. 

Score. — The counting or marking of the progress 
of the game. Attention to the score, which is very 
necessary in playing, refers not only to the progress, 
but also to the prospects of the game, as evidenced by 
the tricks made and honors held in the current hand. 

Seesaw, or saw, is when each of two partners 
ruffs a different suit, so that they may lead alter- 
nately into each other's hands. 

Sequence. — Any number of cards in consecutive 
order, as king, queen, and knave. The ace, queen, 
and ten would form a sequence if the king and 
knave were out. 



24 



THEOEl OF WHIST. 



A tierce is a sequence of three cards ; a quart of 
four ; and a quint of five. 

A head sequence is one standing at the head 
of the suit in your hand, even though it may not 
contain the best card. A subordinate sequence is 
one standing lower down, and it is an intermediate 
sequence if you hold cards both higher and lower. 

Short Suit. — One of which you hold originally 
not more than three cards. See Strength. 

Signal for Trumps. — Throwing away, unneces- 
sarily and contrary to ordinary play, a high card 
before a low one, is called the signal for trumps, or 
asking for trumps ; being a command to your part- 
ner to lead trumps the first opportunity — a command 
which, in the modern scientific game, he is bound 
to obey, whatever his own hand may be. 

Singleton. — A French name for one card only of 
a suit. 

Strength, Strong Suit, Strong Sand. — These are 
terms which it is highly essential to ha% e clearly 
defined, as their interpretation lies at the root of 
the theory of the modem scientific game. 

The cards of any suit contained in your hand 
may vary in two different ways : as regards num- 
ber, and as regards rank. 

As regards number of cards — as tnere are thir- 
teen cards to divide among four persons, it is cleai 



TECHNICAL TERMS. 



25 



that three cards or less will be under the a\erage 3 
while four cards or more will be over the average 
due to each person. 

Again, as to rank, the middle card of a suit is 
the eight; any cards you hold above this maybe 
considered high cards ; any below, low cards. 

Now, it has been the habit to use the terms 
strength and weakness ^ as applied indiscriminately 
to either number or rank — a practice which, 
though no doubt it may be defended analogically, 
is yet calculated to cause great confusion in the 
mind of the student, inasmuch as the two things 
must be very differently regarded in any scientific 
system of play. If, for example, a strong suit has 
been spoken of, it might mean either one in which 
you possess a large number of cards (as, say, the 
two, three, four, five, six, and seven), or in which 
you hold only a few very high ones, as, say, ace, 
king, and queen; the former being numerical 
strength; the latter strength of rank. 

This twofold meaning has, however, become so 
firmly implanted in Whist nomenclature that it 
would be useless to attempt to eradicate it. All 
we can do is to endeavor to get a little more per- 
spicuity by using as much as possible the term 
long suit to indicate strength in numbers, leaving 
the word strong to apply chiefly to high cards, 
2 



28 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Thus any suit of which you hold four or more 
will be called a long suit, being longer than the 
average. Any suit of three or less will be called a 
short suit, being shorter than the average. 

When we speak of a strong suit, we shall gen 
erally refer to one containing cards of a highei 
than average rank, and of a weak suit the contrary. 

A long suit will naturally have a greater chance 
of containing high cards than a short one, and this 
is probably the reason why the confusion of terms 
has arisen. 

A strong hand is difficult to define, further than 
as one likely to make many tricks : a weak one the 
contrary. The terms are often misused when parts 
of the hand only are referred to ; as, for example, 
when you are advised to "lead up to the weak 
hand 5 " which merely refers to a hand weak in the 
particular suit you lead. 

Strengthening play is getting rid of high cards 
in any suit, the effect of which is to give an im- 
proved value to the lower cards of that suit still 
remaining in, and so to strengthen the hand that 
holds them. Strengthening play is most beneficial 
to the hand that is longest in the suit. 

Tenace. — A tenace, in modern Whist,* is under- 

* The older writers, as Hoyle and Mathews, use this 
Word as referring rather to the position than the card 3 ; 
but the meaning in the text is the more modem ona 



TECHNICAL TERMS. 



27 



stood to mean the combination, in the same hand, 
of the best and third best card for the time being 
of any suit; as for example, the ace and queen 
originally, or the king and ten when the ace and 
knave have been played. 

The advantage of this combination is that, ii 
you are fourth player in the suit, you will cer- 
tainly (bar trumping) make two tricks in it ; and 
it is therefore much to your interest that the suit 
should be led by your left-hand adversary. 

The word has nothing to do with ten and ace: 
it probably comes from the Latin tenax, the policy 
being to hold back the suit containing the tenace 
rather than to lead it. 

A minor tenace is the combination of the second 
and fourth best cards. 

Underplay usually signifies keeping back best 
cards, and playing subordinate ones instead. This 
is sometimes advantageous in trumps, or in plain 
suits when strong in trumps, or when trumps are 
out; but it requires care and judgment to avoid 
evil consequences from deceiving your partner s 
and from having your best cards subsequently 
ruffed. 

Weakness, Weak Suit. See Strength. 



CHAPTER III. 



THEORY OF THE GAME. 

The basis of the theory of the modern scientific 
game of Whist lies in the relations existing be- 
tween the players. 

It is a fundamental feature of the construction 
of the game, that the four players are intended to 
act, not singly and independently, but in a double 
combination, two of them being partners against a 
partnership of the other two. And it is the full 
recognition of this fact, carried out into all the 
ramifications of the play, which characterizes the 
scientific game, and gives it its superiority over all 
others. 

Yet, obvious as this fact is, it is astonishing how 
imperfectly it is appreciated among players gen- 
erally. Some ignore the partnership altogether, 
except in the mere division of the stakes, neither 
caring to help their partners or be helped by them, 
but playing as if each had to fight his battle alone. 
Others will go farther, giving some degree of con- 
sideration to the partner, but still always making 
their own hand the chief object ; and among this lat- 
ter class are often found players of much skill and 
j udgment, and who pass for great adepts in the game.. 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



29 



The scientific theory, however, goes much farther 
It carries out the community of interests to thd 
fullest extent possible. It forbids the player to 
consider his own hand apart from that of his part- 
ner, but commands him to treat both in strict con- 
junction, teaching him, in fact, to play the two 
hands combined^ as if they were one. For this ob- 
ject the two players enter into a system of legalized 
correspondence established for the purpose, by 
which each becomes informed to the fullest extent 
possible of the contents of his partner's hand, and 
endeavors to play in such manner as is best for the 
combination. The advantage of this combined 
principle is almost self-evident ; for suppose it car- 
ried to an extreme by each partner seeing the other's 
cards : no one could doubt the resulting advantage ; 
and the modern system is as near an approach to 
this as the rules of the game will permit. There 
are, however, two objections sometimes brought 
against it which deserve brief notice. 

First, it is said that you might often play youi 
own hand to more advantage by treating it in your 
own way, and that the combined principle may lead 
you to sacrifice it. But this objection is merely 
founded on a misapprehension as to how the prin- 
ciple is applied ; for a study of the resulting system 
will show that it is calculated fully to realize anj 



so 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



advantages your own hand may possess, while th* 
cases in which sacrifice is required are only thos8 
in which the joint interest is indubitably promoted 
thereby. Then, secondly, it is objected that all in- 
dications given to your partner may also be seen 
by the opponents and turned against you ; and ic 
is sometimes argued that by enlightening in this way 
two enemies and only one friend you establish a 
balance to your disadvantage. But this involves a 
confusion in reasoning; for, if the opponents are 
equally good players, they will adopt the same sys- 
tem, and the positions must be equal ; and if they 
are not good players, they will be incapable oi 
profiting by the indications you give, and the whole 
advantage will rest with you. Besides, even good 
players seldom pay so much heed to their opponents' 
as to their partner's indications, the attention being 
always most prominently directed to the partner's 
play. It would be more logical to put the argu- 
ment in another form, and to say that, if you play 
obscurely, you are in constant danger of getting 
obstruction instead of help from your partner, 
which would give you three opponents to fight sin- 
gle-handed.* 

* One of our best modern players calls it a u golden 
maxim for Whist," that u it is of more importance to in- 
form your partner than to deceive your adversary," and 
adds that "the best Whist player is he who plays the 
game in the simplest and most intelligible way." 



THEORY OF WRIBT. 



31 



The fact is, however, that the general adoption of 
the principle should by no means supersede the ex 
ercise of judgment in its application. We shall 
hereafter point out that the individual qualifica- 
tions of the various players should have an import- 
ant influence on the mode of play ; and a practised 
player will soon learn to discriminate cases where 
it may be more proper to withhold information 
than to give it. Such cases are of constant oc- 
currence, but they do not affect the general advan- 
tage of the combined principle, which is sufficiently 
established by the fact that it is the result of long 
experience, is practised by the best players, and is 
recommended by the first authorities on the game. 

Now, in order that the two hands may be man- 
aged conjointly to the best advantage, it is requisite 
that each partner should adopt the same general 
system of treating his hand. For it is clear that if 
one player prefer one system, and the other a dif- 
ferent one, such cross purposes must render any 
combination impracticable. It is necessary, there 
fore, here to explain somewhat fully what the dif- 
ferent systems are, on which a hand may be treated^ 
and to show which of them is considered the pref 
erab^e 3ne for adoption. 

The object of play is (f course to make tricks, 



82 



THEORY OF WHIST 



and tricks may be made in four different waysj 
viz. : 

1. By the natural predominance of master cards, 
as acc;-s and kings. This forms the leading idea of 
beginners, whose notions of trick-making do not 
usually extend beyond the high cards they have 
happened to receive. But a little more knowledge 
and experience soon shov, r that this must be made 
subordinate to more advanced considerations. 

2. Tricks may be also made by taking advantage 
of the jwsition of the cards, so as to evade the 
higher ones, and make smaller ones win: as, foi 
example, in finessing, and in leading up to a weak 
suit. This method is one which, although always 
kept well in view by good players, is yet only of 
accidental occurrence, and therefore does not enter 
into our present discussion of the general systems 
of treating the hand. 

3. Another mode of trick-making is by trumping y 
a system almost as fascinating to beginners as the 
realization of master cards ; but the correction of 
this predilection requires much deeper study. 

4* The fourth method of making tricks is by es- 
tablishing and bringing in a long suit, every card 
of which will then make a trick, whatever be its 
tralue. This method 3 though the most seientiie* 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



33 



fche least obvious, and therefore is the least practised 
by young players. 

Now, the first, third, and fourth methods of mak- 
ing tricks may be said to constitute different sys- 
tems, according to either of which a player may view 
his hand and regulate his play. An example will 
make this quite clear. 

Suppose the elder hand, having the first lead, re- 
ceives the following cards : 

Hearts (Trumps) Q. 9, 6, 3. 
Spades . . .Kg. Kn. 8, 4, 3, 2. 
Diamonds . . A. Kg. 
Clubs . . . . Q. 

He may adopt either of the three above-named 
views in regard to his hand, and the choice he makes 
will at once influence his first lead. 

If badly taught, he will probably adopt the first 
system, and lead out at once his ace and king of 
diamonds. 

Or, if he peculiarly affect the trumping system, he 
will lead out the queen of clubs, in hopes of ruffing 
the suit when it is led again. 

But, if he is a more advanced player, he will, at 
any rate for his first lead, adopt the fourth method ; 
he will lead the smallest of his ]ong suit of spades, 
knowing that if he can ultimately establish it and 
bring it in^ he must make several tricks in it. 
2* 



34 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



The importance of a correct choice between the 
three systems consists principally in the fact alluded 
to above, that it directly influences the first lead, 01 
what we may call (in analogy with chess) the open 
ing of the game. For on the combined principle of 
action, the first lead is by far the most important 
one in the whole hand, inasmuch as it is the first 
and most prominent intimation given to your part- 
ner as to the cards you hold. He will, if he is a 
good player, observe with great attention the card 
you lead, and will at once draw inferences from it 
that may perhaps influence the whole of his plans. 
And hence, the nature of the opening you adopt is 
of the greatest consequence to your joint welfare. 
And it is clear that, however your play may vary 
in the after-part of the hand, you must, as a general 
principle, adopt always the same opening, or it will 
be impossible for your partner to draw any infer- 
ences from it at all. 

Let us, therefore, consider how the choice be- 
tween tne tnree systems of play is determined. 

"We may dismiss the first, or master-card system, 
very briefly. It is evidently not good a b once to 
lead out master cards of a suit of which you hold 
only a few ; for the reason that you can probably 
make them whenever any oue else leads it, and that 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



35 



fchey will then serve as " cards of re-entry," to pro* 
cure you additional leads at a future period of the 
hand, which then become peculiarly valuable, ow- 
ing to the increased information you have obtained. 
Hence, the master-card system, though often o^ 
great use, must not be the one by which the open- 
ing of the game is determined. 

Between the two other systems, however, the 
choice is not so clear. It is by no means easy to 
prove which of them, if pursued systematically, 
would in the long run be the most advantageous as 
regards the single hand / to demonstrate this would 
require the study of almost infinite combinations of 
chances. But there is a conclusive argument in 
favor of the fourth or long-suit system ; namely, 
that, treated as a form of opening, it is the only one 
which adapts itself favorably and conveniently to 
the combination of the hands. 

The difficulties in the combined use of the trump- 
ing system would be very great. In the first place, 
it would not often happen that your hand contained 
a suit of one card only : you might have none of a 
suit, when you could not lead it ; your minimum 
might be two, when the policy would be doubtful; 
or three, when it would be useless. Hence there 
would be no uniformity in your opening ; it would 
be always equivocal, and would consequently giv< 



36 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



your partner no information. Then, after leading 

a single card you could not yourself persevere in 
your system, or do anything more to further it ; aa 
your next lead must be on some other ground — a 
complexity which would effectually prevent favor- 
able combined action. And, thirdly, your plan 
would be so easily overthrown by the adversaries' 
leading trumps, which, if they knew your system, 
a very moderate strength would justify them in do- 
ing, to your utter discomfiture. 

The long-suit ope ni ng is free from all these ob- 
jections. It is uniformly practicable, as every hand 
must contain at least one suit of four cards ; you 
can persevere in your design every time you get the 
Jead, whether your partner can help you or not; 
your indications to your partner are positive and 
unmistakable; and the adversaries are almost 
powerless to offer you any direct obstruction — 
their only resource being to bring forward counter- 
plans of their own. 

It is sometimes alleged against the long-suit open- 
big, that in many cases it cannot be followed to it 3 
2onclusion, from the strength of trumps being 
against you, or from untoward fall of the cards, 
But even in this case it is still the safest, as, though 
it may not succeed for yourself, it is the way least 
likely to help your adversary, and indeed it fur 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



37 



nishes you always with the best means of obstructing 
him, by forcing his hand. And it must be recol 
iected that its adoption as an opening does not bind 
you always implicitly to follow it up, or in the 
least prevent you from making tricks, in the after- 
part of the hand, by any of the other modes, if you 
should find it to your interest to do so. Any 
master-cards you possess will take care of them- 
selves ; and if you are short of a suit, and wish to 
trump it, you have only to wait till it is led by 
some one else, and you attain your object without 
misleading your partner. 

Thus the long-suit system has not only peculiar 
benefits of its own, but it permits full advantage 
being taken of the other systems also, and, used as 
an opening, is in all cases the safest play. To this 
we may add that it has characterized the scientific 
game ever since it was invented ; it has stood the 
test of long experience ; and is universally adopted 
by the best authorities we have. At the same 
time, by the more recondite and scientific character 
of the play it admits of, it is preferred by all 
eminent players, as calling into operation the high- 
est intellectual and reasoning powers, and thereby 
greatly ennobling the game. 

Accepting, therefore, this system as the prefers 
ble one 3 we are now able to enunciate the funda 



38 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



mental theory of the modern scientific game, which 
is — 

That the hands of the two partners shall not be 
played singly and independently, but shall be com* 
bined, and treated as one. And that, in order to 
carry out most effectually this principle ofcombina* 
tion, each partner shall adopt the long-suit system 
as the general basis of kis play. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEORY, 

We now proceed to explain how this theory it 
developed into a practical shape ; and this we must 
divide ofT under several heads. The most import- 
ant is 

Its Influence on the Management of Ti*umps. 

The treatment of trumps is a groat puzzle to ill- 
taught players, who generally use them in the wild- 
est and most unskilful way. To play them in 
detail to the best advantage always requires much 
judgment, even in the most educated; but the 
general principles of their management are easily 
and clearly determined by our theory, as we shall 
endeavor to show. 

Trumps may be used for three distinct purposes, 
namely : 

1. To play as ordinary or plain suits. This use, 
however, ignores their higher or special value, and 
ought therefore to be made quite subordinate to the 
other two. 

2. To make tricks by trumping. 

3. To aid in making your own or your partner's 
long suits or high cards. 

The theory we have enunciated points clearly to 



*0 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



the third use of trumps as the highest and most 
scientific, and accordingly this application of them 
is always the most prominent in the scientific game. 
It is obvious that the chief obstacle to making long 
suits is their being trumped by the adversary ; and 
that therefore the advantage will be with that 
party who, having predominant strength in trumps, 
can succeed in drawing those of the adversaries. 

For this reason, whenever you have Jive trumps^ 
whatever they are, or whatever the other compon- 
ents of your hand, you should lead them / for the 
probability is that three, or at most four, rounds 
will exhaust those of the adversaries, and you will 
still have one or two left to bring in your own or 
your partner's long suits, and to stop those of the 
enemy. And notice, that it is numerical strength 
of trumps that is most important for this purpose, 
so that you must not be deterred from leading 
them, even if all five should be small ones ; for in 
this case probably your partner will hold honors, 
and even if the honors are all against you, you will 
probably soon bring down two together. 

And, further, you must recollect that it is no 
argument against leading trumps from five, that 
you have no long suit, and that your hand is other- 
wise weak ; for it is the essence of the combined 
principle that you work for your partner as well as 



DEVELOPMENT 



41 



yourself, and the probability is that if you are 
weak, he is strong, and will have long suits or good 
cards to bring in. And if, unfortunately, it should 
happen that you are both weak* any other plaj 
would be probably still worse for you. 

The lead of trumps is considered so important to 
the science of the modern game that, for many 
years back, a conventional signal has been intro- 
duced, by which, when a player wants them to be 
led, and cannot get the lead himself, he may inti- 
mate the fact to his partner, and call upon him to 
lead them. This signal consists simply in throwing 
away, unnecessarily, a higher card before a lower. 
Thus, suppose king and ace of 3ome suit are led 
consecutively, and your two lowest cards are the 
seven and the three, the usual play is to throw 
away first the three and next the seven. But if 
you reverse this order, playing first the seven and 
then the three, this is a command to your partner 
to lead trumps immediately. It is called the sig- 
nal for trumps 3 or asking for trumps ; it is ex- 
plained in all modern works, and it is become a rec- 
ognized arrangement in all the best "Whist circles. 

It will also be evident that, as the success of the 
long-suit system depends so much on the early ex- 
traction of trumps by the hand strong in them, it 
is your imperative duty to return trumps immedi 



42 



THEOEY OF WHIST. 



ately if your partner leads them, or to lead then 
the first opportunity if he signals for them. You 
must not consider your own cards ; for if you agree 
to play the correct game, you are bound to do what 
is best for the combined hands, and your partner, 
having the power of conferring so great a mutual 
benefit, must not be thwarted in his design. It is 
the understood etiquette for the strong hand in 
trumps always to take precedence, and a partner 
who refuses to conform to the rule should be " sent 
to Coventry " by all good players. It is an old Joe 
Miller in Whist circles, that there are only two 
reasons that can justify you in not returning trumps 
to your partner's lead ; i.e., first, sudden illness ; 
secondly, having none. There is, however, one 
case in which you have an option, and that is 
where your partner, in desperation, leads trumps 
from weakness, in hopes you are strong ; if, there- 
fore, you are also weak, you can return them or 
not as you think best for the game. 

The foregoing remarks apply to the case of great 
numerical strength in trumps, one hand being sup- 
posed to hold five. It remains to be considered 
how trumps should be treated when you hold a less 
number. 

With four trumps you are still numerically 
strong, but you have not, as in the former case, 



DEVELOPMENT. 



43 



such overpowering strength as warrants yon in 
leading trumps at all hazards. Possibly one of tha 
adversaries may also hold four, or even five, in 
which cases you might be unintentionally playing 
his game. 

Hence, with four trumps considerable discretion 
is required, their lead being only warranted by tole- 
rable strength, either of yourself or your partner, 
in other suits, in which case, even if long trumps 
remain in against you, you may manage to force 
them out and afterwards bring in your good cards. 
But if you have to lead before you can ascertain 
what your partner's hand consists of, and if you 
have a good plain suit, it is generally best to lead 
that first. 

"With a short suit of trumps, i.e., with less than 
four, it is very seldom right to lead them, at the 
commencement of the hand, for the obvious reason 
that if the adversaries happen to be strong, you are 
playing their game. It can only be warranted by 
very strong cards in all other suits, by which you 
may, perhaps, be able effectively to force a strong 
adverse trump hand. 

Many uneducated players will lead a high trump 
from weakness, in order, as they say, to strengthen 
their partner ; but this is founded on imperfect rea 
zoning. The effect of leading high or strengthening 



44 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



cards is to benefit the hand that is longest in th« 
suit; and if you know this to be your partner's 
case, the play is right. Buc to do it in uncertainty 
is wrong, since it is two to one that the longest 
hand is not with your partner, but with one of the 
adversaries, and therefore the chances are that you 
favor the opponents' game. 

Many unscientific players will also lead trumps, 
simply because their long suit is trumped, or is 
likely to be so. This also is a mistake ; for, as 
before, if the adversaries are strongest in trumps, 
you are only playing their game. 

The proper use to make of trumps when you are 
numerically weak in them, is to use them, if possi- 
ble, for ruffing. You cannot, for want of strength, 
put them to their highest use, and you must, there- 
fore, fall back upon their lower application. 

Several corollaries arise out of the foregoing 
principles of the scientific management of trumps ; 
for example : 

It will often happen that, being second player, 
and having none of the suit led, you may be at a 
loss to know whether to trump a doubtful trick or 
to leave it for your partner. This difficulty is at 
once solved by the foregoing theory. If you are 
weak in trumps, holding, say, not more than three, 
trumf without hesitation, as your trumps are of n« 



DEVELOPMENT. 



other use, and they may probably save a command 
ing card of your partner's, which in the adversaries' 
suit will be very valuable. But, if you have a long 
suit of trumps, holding four or more, pass the trick, 
as they are too valuable to risk wasting. It may 
even be sometimes advisable, in the latter case, to 
refuse a trick which is certainly against you, as 
your trumps will ultimately make, and you may 
perhaps discard advantageously. This rule is addi- 
tionally useful as an indication to your partner. If 
he sees you trump freely second-hand, he will know 
you are weak ; if you abstain, he will infer you are 
strong, and his knowledge of either fact may be of 
great value to you both. In the latter case also 
your discard will give him very useful information. 

The greatest mischief that can be done to a strong 
trump hand is to force it to ruff, so depriving it of 
its preponderating strength. This must be borne 
in mind if you see your partner renounce a suit, 
when you must, if you know him to be strong in 
trumps, carefully avoid forcing him. If you have 
had no indication of his hand, you must form, as 
well as you can, a judgment by your own; if you 
are weak, he may probably be strong : and hence 
the rule that you must not force your partner when 
you are weak in trumps yourself until you art 
satisfied that your doing so will not harm him* 



46 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



These principles also teach you how besfc to 
oppose a strong adverse trump hand, and to seek to 
diminish the advantages it gives over you. In 
this case you have first carefully to avoid leading 
rumps, which is the adversaries' game ; and, sec- 
ondly, you must force the adverse strong hand to 
t.irT whenever you can. By this means, if perse- 
vered in, you may perhaps succeed in neutralizing 
the opposing strength, and so in making your own 
good or long cards, although the chances are gener- 
ally against you. At any rate, you can endeavor 
to make use of /our trumps for ruffing before they 
are drawn. 

Many players, when weak in trumps, will lead 
through an honor turned up, without any other mo- 
tive than to give their partner a supposed trifling 
advantage in making a trick with them. This is a 
delusion, and is moreover entirely at variance with 
the principles of the modern game, inasmuch as it 
debases the trumps to their lowest use. But its 
worst fault is that it entirely misleads your partner, 
who, if he plays properly, will imagine you to be 
strong, and by returning them probably destroy 
your joint game. 

Again, if you have great numerical strength in 
trumps you should never hesitate to lead them up 
to an honor. It is true your partner, being obligee 1 



DEVELOPMENT. 



47 



to play his best, may possibly lose a high card, but 
this will be rather to your advantage than other- 
wise, as it will strengthen your hand and give you 
earlier the entire command. If you abstain from 
leading them, your partner may imagine the 
strength to be against him, and will play accor 
dingly, and thus the immense advantage of you 
strong trumps may be lost. 

Such are the chief practical principles in regard 
^o trumps, deducible from the scientific modern 
theory. It will be seen they are a powerul engine 
for the advantageous working of plain suits, and 
that they require to be played with great care. In 
fact, the way in which a player manages his trumps 
will always form the surest index of the extent of 
his knowledge of the game. 

Management of Plain Suits. — Long Suit Lead. 

We now go on to show the general application 
of the scientific theory to the play of suits not 
trumps, or, as they are called, plain suits. 

Supposing you have first lead, not being very 
Strong in trumps, but having a long suit in your 
hand. Adhering to the established mode of " open- 
ing," yos. lead from your long suit, thereby at once 
informing your partner what is the chief compo- 
nent of your hand. He will recollect this, and ag 



48 



THEORY OF WHIST 



it is his duty to return your lead hereafter, and • 

your interest to persevere in your suit, you will 
have the opportunity of " making ." any good carda 
in it which the joint hands may contain, and you 
may probably after three rounds be left with one 
or two long cards of it in your own hand. These 
long cards wi]l then become very valuable ; if the 
trumps can be extracted from the adverse hands, 
and you can get the lead, either by a trump or a 
card of re-entry, they will make certain tricks : it 
any trumps remain against you, the long cards may 
be made powerful weapons of offence by forcing 
them out ; so that in either case the system of play 
will be advantageous for you. 

Next comes the question, What card should you 
lead from your long suit? To answer this fully 
would involve more detail than we purpose to go 
into here, but there are some prominent considera- 
tions that will serve as guides for general practice. 

As an abstract principle, it is not good to part 
with your high cards at first, as it is very desirable 
to retain the complete command of the suit at a later 
period. Suppose, for instance, you hold ace, king, 
and three small ones : the most advantageous lead 
(if it were not for a consideration we shall enter 
into by and by) would be a small one ; for on tht 
second round you would have the complete com* 



DEVELOPMENT. 



49 



mancl with your ace and king, being able prob^blj 
thereby to draw all the others and pursue your 
suit to the end. When you have such command, 
your suit is said to be established, and it is evi- 
dently advantageous for you to get this effected as 
early as you possibly can. This principle would, 
therefore, dictate, that your first lead should gen- 
erally be the lowest of your suit. 

But there is a circumstance which considerably 
modifies the application of this principle in prac- 
tice — that is, the risk of the suit being ruffed by 
the adversaries ; on which account it is advisable 
to depart in some measure from it for the sake of 
making your winning cards early. Thus in the 
above hand of ace, king, and three small ones, if 
you were to begin with the smallest, reserving your 
two high cards for the second and third rounds, 
you would probably have one of them tramped ; 
for which reason it is good policy to play them out 
first, at the risk of delaying the establishment of 
your suit. 

The first-named principle will, however, always 
apply for leading trumps, and also for plain suits 
when trumps are out, as the motive for the depar- 
ture from it then no longer exists. 

There is also another kind of exception from bo- 
ginning with the lowest, but which directly tendi 
3 



50 



THEORY OF WHIST 



to promote the early establishment of your suit } 
namely, when you have a high sequence, such as Q, 
Kn. 10, at the head of your hand. In this case 
your endeavor should be to force out the highe) 
cards, for which purpose you lead the highest 01 
your sequence, say the queen, which will be almost 
sure to force out either the ace or king ; if the 
other is also against you, you may, on another 
round, bring it out with the knave, leaving you 
then with the best card and probably with the en- 
tire command. 

Directions how these principles may be applied 
in leading from particular combinations of cards, 
ar8 usually given in the detailed rules of play. 

Return of the Lead. 

Hitherto we have only spoken of your own pro- 
ceedings in leading. But it is now desirable to con- 
sider your partner's duty, i.e., how he is expected 
to help you in regard to the play of your long suit. 
It is not enough that he simply return your lead ; 
'he efficiency of his aid will much depend on what 
cards he plays. 

The key to this lies in the fact that, as you hold 
more than the average number of cards in the suit, 
he will probably hold less / i.e., if it is a long suit 
with you, it will be a short one with him. If you, 



DEVELOPMENT. 



51 



for example, liold five, the chances are much against 
his holding more than three. And it follows from 
this, that the best thing he can do for the joint ben- 
efit is to play his cards rather with reference to your 
hand than his own, i.e., to give you the more im- 
portant part of the play in reference to the suit in 
question. 

And there are two principles deducible at once 
from our theory, which will serve for his guidance 
in this particular. 

The first is, that he must get rid of the command 
of your suit / for we have already stated it to be 
eminently desirable you should get this early into 
your own hand, in order to establish your suit as 
soon as possible. Thus, whenever he finds he holds 
the best card in it, he must play it out, in order to 
get it out of your way. 

And then, secondly, he must adopt, in this suit, 
what is called strengthening play. The meaning of 
this term is often misunderstood, but it is exceed- 
ingly simple. Whenever a high card is played, its 
withdrawal promotes (in military parlance) all the 
lower cards of that suit still existing in the various 
hands, i.e., it raises each of them a step in rank ; 
what was formerly the third best becoming now the 
second best, and so on. And as it is evident thai 
the longest hand will be the most likely to benefi' 



62 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



by this proceeding, this hand is said to be strength 
tried thereby, so that, when your partner plays out 
high cards of your long snit, even though he may 
not make tricks with them, their withdrawal will 
8tre\ igthen, and thereby benefit yon. This is an im- 
portant reason for the well-known rule to play high- 
est third hand * you having led from your long suit, 
your partner plays the highest he has, not only to 
]iis best towards getting the trick, but also, if he 
loses it, to strengthen your hand by getting high 
cards out of your way. This last object is entirely 
lost sight of by those silly people who feel mortified 
at " having their high cards taken," as well as by 
those, not much less silly, who, when strong in 
trumps, object to "lead up to an honor. 55 

For this reason also your partner must not finesse 
in your long suit, except with ace and queen the 
first time round, which, provided he gets rid of the 
ace soon afterwards, is considered allowable. 

The principle of strengthening play must also 
guide your partner in returning your lead ; for if he 
is short in the suit (i.e., if he held not more than 
three cards originally), it will be very advantageous 
to you that he should return the highest he has left, 
and not the lowest ; he may thus either save a high 
card of yours, or may afford you a good finesse, 02 
ftt all events he will strengthen your hand, and aid 



DEVELOPMENT. 



5a 



you in establishing your suit. Thus if your partner 
originally held king, knave, and a small one, and 
has played out his king to your first lead, wheu ha 
returns the suit he must lead the knave, and no the 
small one. 

This duty of returning the highest of a weak suit 
is so imperative, that it has now, by universal ";on- 
sent of the best players, become a conventional iule f 
by adhering to which your partner may show 70U 
the state of his hand. If, for example, he had origin- 
ally ace, five, and four of your lead, after winning 
with the ace he must return the five and not the 
four. It matters nothing to him, but it may be all 
important to you, and violation of the rule may lorn 
the game. 

It is of course possible that your partner may hold 
originally more than three of your suit. In this case 
he is, like you, numerically strong, and this should 
justify him in so far considering his own hand as to 
depart from the before-mentioned rule, and to re- 
turn his lowest But in any case, if he happens aftei 
the first round of your long suit still to hold the 
best or master-card in it, he should play it out at 
once, to get it out of your way 5 and to prevent your 
imagining it is against you. 

It is by no means necessary that your partner 
should return your lead immediately (except va 



54 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



trumps, which, he is bound to return instanter) , 03 
the contrary, it is highly desirable that the first lead 
he gets he should lead his own Jong suit, so as to put 
you as early as possible in possession of information 
a* to his hand, in return for that he 1 
from you. This will guide you to another Lead 
when your own suit is stopped, and will promote 
your joint action. 

After you and your partner have both led your 
long suits, you will probably have a choice whether 
to go on with your own suit or with his. This will 
often be determined by the fall of the cards. If, 
for example, you win his lead cheaply, you should 
not return it, as you would be leading through the 
weak hand, which is contrary to principle, and the 
lead will come more properly from him. If, on the 
other hand, your partner has shown himself very 
weak in your suit, and you are also not very strong 
of course it would be disadvantageous to go on with 
that, and you may probably do better to return your 
partner's. If your right-hand adversary has shown 
himself weak in your suit, pursue it by all means, 
ts your partner ought not to return it for you. 

The foregoing explanations will show the nature 
of the mutual duties which the modern or combined 
game enjoins between yourself and your partner; 
for we need hardly add, that all we have said as tc 



DEVELOPMENT. 



55 



his duties to you, as aiding you in your suit, equally 
defines your duties in aiding hini. This mutuality 
cannot be too strongly insisted on ; the want of a 
proper perception of it is the great fault of manj 
otherwise good self-taught players, and it is the 
hardest lesson they have to learn. There are num- 
bers of people who can play their own hands excel- 
lently, but who have no idea either of getting help 
from, or of affording help to, their partners, and 
who must therefore lose all the benefit derivable 
from the combined game.* 

Further Remarks on the Lead. 

We have hitherto assumed that you lead from 
the longest suit you hold, which is the safe general 
rule ; but cases often occur which involve some dif- 
ficulty of choice. For example, suppose you have 
five small cards, in one plain suit, and four with 
honors in another. The theory by no means im- 
peratively calls on you to lead the former ; for it 
must be borne in mind that the rank of the cards 
always deserves consideration, and your leading the 
four suit (which is still a long suit) would be per- 
fectly justifiable. 

* One of our best modern players characterizes playing 
for your own hand alone as ' ' the worst fault he know* 
to a Whist player." 



56 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Similarly a question might arise between foui 
small cards and three good ones ; but here the case 
is different, for three cards constitute a short suit, 
to lead which unnecessarily would be a violation of 
the theory. 

Such, however, is the infinite variety of Whist, 
that provision must be made for leading under all 
sorts of circumstances, and from short suits among 
others. For example, you may have originally no 
long suit except trumps, which you do not feel jus- 
tified in leading ; or your own long suit may be 
trumped, and your partner may not yet have given 
you any indication what to lead for him. Leads 
from short suits, being contrary to principle, are 
called un/iatiiral or forced leads/ it is necessary to 
be prepared for them, and the following hints may 
be of use : 

It is good to lead up to the weak adversary, or 
through the strong one. Therefore you may pretty 
safely lead a suit in which your right-hand adver- 
sary has shown himself weak, or your lef c-hand ad- 
versary strong. (Indication of strength is given 
by the lead, of weakness by the play of the third 
and fourth hand, and by the discard.) Remember, 
however, that, as a general rule, returning your ad- 
versary's lead is to be avoided. 

When you are obliged to lead from a short suit, 



DEVELOPMENT. 



57 



the general nile is to play out the highest card you 
have, to inform your partner. If you have any rea« 
son to know that he is long in the suit, the rule 
admits of no exception ; but if you are doubtful 
on this point, it may be taken with some reserve. 
If, for example, you have an honor with two small 
ones, you may lead the smallest, so as to try and save 
the honor, in case of the strength lying against you. 

When you lead in this way an unnatural or forced 
lead, your partner ought generally to know it by the 
card you play, and ought not to return it, unless he 
happens to be strong in that suit himself, when he 
may treat it as a lead of his own. 

If it is injudicious to lead from three cards, it 
may easily be inferred how much more erroneous it 
is for your first lead to be from two or one, such 
being, as we have already explained, contrary to 
the essential principles of the modern scientific 
game. It is quite possible that in certain cases 
such a lead may seem to suit your own hand ; bu fc 
by adopting it you give up altogether the principle 
of the combined game : you make up your mind 
wilfully to mislead your partner, and run a great 
risk of sacrificing his hand. For a glance at the 
foregoing rules will amply show how essentially, if 
he is a well-taught player, his mode of play will 
depend on the first card he sees fall from you, and 
3* 



58 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



the inferences he draws therefrom as to the state of 
your hand. 

There is an old rule that you should not lead 
from a tenace y and this is no doubt good as regards 
a short suit ; but if your tenace suit is your long- 
est, th<5 advantage of opening your game correctly 
is so great as to outweigh the other consideration. 
When you happen to be left with a tenace towards 
the end of the hand, the case is different, as you 
should generally hold it carefully back, and try to 
get it led up to. 

Other Applications of Theory. 

The long-suit system will furnish you with a good 
principle of guidance in the matter of discarding ^ 
which should always be done from short or weak 
suits, not from long ones. The cards of the for- 
mer are of little use ; those of the latter may be 
very valuable even to the smallest you have. The 
discard, practised on this principle, furnishes a very 
important means of conveying information to your 
partner as to the state of your hand. For example : 
suppose hearts are trumps, and that one of the ad- 
versaries has shown strength in spades ; you lead a 
winning club, to which your partner discards a dia- 
mond ; it is almost certain, if everybody plays prop- 
erly, that he must be very strong in trumps, and 



DEVELOPMENT. 



59 



you may play accordingly. The restrictions to b« 
observed in discarding on this principle are, not to 
unnecessarily unguard good cards, and to keep a card 
of your partner's suit to return his lead. 

A word or two is necessary as to your course in 
regard to your adversaries / for it must be recol- 
lected you have not only to play your own and 
your partner's game, but you have also to defend it 
against hostile attacks, and to be able to attack the 
enemy in turn. 

The principles dictated by the theory of the 
game in this respect are very clear, the golden rule 
being to do to them what you would not that they 
should do unto you. For example : if you find a 
strong hand of trumps declared against you, you 
must force that hand to ruff, as the best means of 
destroying its strength, while you must take the 
earliest opportunity of making your own weak 
trumps by ruffing before they are drawn, and of en- 
abling your partner to do the same if he is weak 
also. You must generally be chary of returning 
the adversaries' leads, or of doing anything to aid 
in establishing their suits, of which you should 
avoid parting with the command — just the reverse 
of the principle you adopt with your partner. Any- 
thing, in fact, which the principle of the game rec- 
ommends in regard to your partner, you must 



60 



THEORY OF WHIST, 



avoid with your adversaries ; and. on the othei 
hand, you may adopt, towards them, any kind oi 
play which would do your partner harm. 

• Communication betujeen the Partners. 

"We have already stated that the theory of the 
scientific or combined game essentially contemplates 
the interchange of communication between the part- 
ners to the fullest legal extent, a- : • state and 
contents of each other's hands; and as the giving, 
-obtaining, and making use of such information forms 
one of the chief characteristics of good play, a few 
additional words on the point may be useful here 

In the first place, the system of play itself fur 
rushes a large source of information : for by follow- 
ing carefully the established principles; and by avoid- 
ing wild and irregular play, you will certainly put 
your partner in possession of the most material 
facts as to your hand, while by carefully observing 
his play you will become possessed of similar infor- 
mation as to his hand in return A glance through 
the foregoing remarks will show this quite clearly. 

Bur. independently of this, you must adopt every 
farther means in your power of giving him infor 
mation, and there are many ways in which this may 
be done. We have already mentioned some con 
ventional signals which, by common consent, have 



DEVELOPMENT 



61 



Decorne legalized and adopted for the purpose, suet 

as the signal for trumps, and returning the highest 
from a short suit ; and there are one or two other 3 
which may be remarked on. 

The mode of playing sequences furnishes one 01 
these. Suppose, being third player, you hold king 
and queen ; it is clearly immaterial, as regards the 
immediate effect, which of these two cards you 
.play ; but, since you have the choice, advantage is 
taken of the fact to enable you to give your part- 
ner information, the rule being that you always 
play the lowest of the sequence; so that your part- 
ner, understanding this convention, will at once ac- 
quire the knowledge that you have not the knave, 
but may have the king. If you played the king, 
he would erroneously infer you had not the queen, 
and this error might cause him to do your joint 
game much injury. This rule of playing the lowest 
of a sequence applies whenever you are second, 
third, or fourth player ; but when you lead differ- 
ent considerations come in, which require, in many 
cases, the highest of the sequence to be played. 
This is, however, perfectly well understood, and 
causes no confusion. 

There are also several other lesser means of com 
veying information, such as by retaining the turn- 
up card as long as you can, and bv particular modes 



62 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



of play in particular oases ; as, for example, if yo% 
found yourself at a certain period of the game with 
the best and second best cards of trumps, or of a 
plain suit when trumps were out, you would lead the 
second best, to show your partner you held the best 
also ; or, in discarding from a suit of which you 
have full command, it is a convention to throw away 
the highest, which your partner must know you 
would not do without good reason. Other devices 
of this kind will often suggest themselves in the 
course of play. 

And this consideration should also guide you to 
be extremely careful against doing anything which 
may mislead your partner, particularly in the man- 
agement of your small cards ; for example, it would 
be inexcusable unnecessarily to throw away a three 
or a four if you held a two. Deceiving your part- 
ner is a crime which ought to be held in the great- 
est abhorrence by a Whist player. It is ranked by 
one of our greatest Whist authorities with want of 
veracity in common affairs. " In no other position 
in life," says he, " would you tell me that which ia 
untrue ; and why should you do it here ? " 

On the Degree of Strictness with which Systematic 
Play should be adhered to. 

It does not follow that because the modern scien- 
tific game involves a general system of p]ay r thif 



DEVELOPMENT. 



63 



system is to be rigidly and slavishly adhered to, 
without judgment or discrimination. On the con 
trary, one of the characteristics of a fine player is 
his ability and tact in finding out when and to what 
extent he may modify or depart from the ordinary 
rules. It is impossible to teach this, and it is 
scarcely advisable that the learner should trouble 
himself much about it ; for it is far preferable to 
show even too strict an adherence to principle, than 
to depart from it wildly and unskilfully. When 
the systematic theory and practice of the scientific 
game have been fully mastered, practice and obser- 
vation will soon point out, to the intelligent stu- 
dent, the modes in which he may advantageously 
modify his play. 

The principal cause which justifies what one may 
call exceptional or irregular play, is the state of the 
score, which in Short Whist continually requires 
the most careful attention. The necessity for 
gaining a certain definite number of tricks, in order 
to win or to save the game, under peculiar circum- 
stances of the hands, often gives rise to special 
problems, out of the usual category, and for which 
the ordinary system must be entirely thrown aside. 
If, for example, you score four, and have six tricki 
already, it is absurd to trouble yourself aloat any 



64 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



scientific mode of play, if by any possible means^ 
ever so irregular and exceptional, you can ensure 
one trick more. And so if, at love-all, two honors 
are declared against you, and you have four tricks 
up, any kind of play will be right that will get you 
the fiftii trick to save the game. Again, suppose 
the adversaries are four, and you, with the lead, 
have a bad hand. The best play is, in defiance of 
all system, to lead out your best trump ; for, if 
your partner has not a very good hand, the game 
is lost ; and if he has, that is the best thing to 
do. 

Towards the end of the hand, rules may be often 
advantageously laid aside and false cards played, for 
then the great scheme of play cannot be affected by 
them: it has been settled and carried out long 
before. 

There is another justification for departure from 
strict systematic play : that is, the consideration of 
the personal capabilities of your partner or your 
adversaries, and their degree of knowledge of the 
game. It is an essence of the scientific game, con 
sequent on its mutual and combined character, that 
both partners must understand it, and must play 
on the same general principles, otherwise the mutu- 
ality cannot consistently be carried out. And a 



DEVELOPMENT. 



65 



question arises from this, which often puzzles stu 
dents; i.e., "What should you do when you have a 
partner who does not understand, and consequent!}' 
does not play, the scientific game ? 

This question is difficult to answer, as so much 
depends on the extent of his capabilities. It is 3 
however, certain that you must considerably mod- 
ify your play, as all the features which depend on 
your partner's appreciation of the combined game 
would be thrown away. It would be folly, for ex- 
ample, to give the signal for trumps or any other 
conventional sign if it was not likely to be under- 
stood. And the case would be worse if one or 
both of the adversaries happened to be observant 
players ; for, in such case, the more information you 
gave as to your hand, the more facility you would 
afford for your own defeat. 

It is impossible to give rules for such cases: 
sometimes it might be politic to play for your own 
hand only ; at others you might partially help your 
partner (if you could understand his play) though 
he might not help you ; at other times you might 
most profitably devote your attention to thwarting 
your adversaries. All would be a matter of judg- 
ment at the time. 

The only thing to be said is, that principles of 
Dlay which depend essentially on a joint action of 



66 



THEOBY OF WHIST. 



the two partners, must not inflexibly be carried mi 
when one of their most fundamental conditions is 
wanting; and that, consequently, what would be 
very bad play if you had a good partner, may be 
perfectly good when you hapve a bad one. 



CHAPTER V. 



EULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLAT. 

The foregoing remarks illustrate what we hav« 
called the Theory of the Scientific or Modern 
Game. The way in which this theory is usually 
brought into practical application is by means of 
"Rules or Directions for Play ; indeed, the ordinary 
plan in teaching "Whist, either personally or hy 
books, is to give these rules only, either ignoring 
the theory altogether, or only allowing it to be 
inferred by the student as well as he can. 

Many collections of rules, carried out in con- 
siderable detail, will be found in the best modern 
works on Whist * x but it will be useful to give here 
a short summary of the principal ones, arranged in 
a convenient form for reference. 

It must be explained that among such rules are 
included many which have no direct reference to 
the theory of the game, but are matters of detail, 
providing for what we may call the accidents of play 



68 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



SUMMARY OF RULES AXD DIRECTIONS FOR PLAY. 

The principles on which most of these rules 
are based will be found in the foregoing theoret- 
ical considerations. Some further explanations, 
together with notes of exceptions and other 
useful remarks, are appended in small type. 

The Lead. 

Let your first or principal lead be from your 
best long suit. 

If you have two suits, each of more than three 
cards, you may prefer the one which is si/rxmgesi 
in high cards; but always avoid, if possible, an 
original lead from a suit of less than four. 

Holding in this suit ace and king, lead king first, 
then ace. 

This is preferable to begi nnin g with the ace, 
as it may sometimes convey useful information. 
No good partner would trump yonr king led 

If you hold ace, king, queen, lead king first, 
then queen, for the same reason. 

Holding Icing and queen, lead king. 

And, if it wins, a small one, as the ace ought 

to be with your partner. 



PRACTICAL RULES. 



G9 



Holding Icing, queen, knave, ten, lead the low- 
est of the sequence, to induce your partner tG 
put on the ace, if he has it, and leave you with 
the command. 

Holding ace, queen, knave, lead ace, then queen. 

So as to obtain the command with the knave. 
If your partner holds the king-, he ought to put 
it on the queen (if he can trust your leading from 
a long suit), so as not to obstruct your establish- 
ment of the suit. , 

Holding ace an J four others (not including king, 
Dr queen with knave), lead ace, then a small one. 

To prevent the chance of your ace being 
trumped second round. 

Holding queen, knave, ten, or knave, ten, nine, at 
the head of your suit, lead the highest. 

It is an old and well-known rule to 1 • lead the 
highest of a sequence." But like many other 
rules, when the reason of it is not comprehended, 
it is often totally misunderstood and misapplied. 
The object of doing this is to prevent your i :- 
ner from putting on the next highest, if he has 
it ; but there are many cases where you ought to 
desire him to put it on, and where, consequently, 
the lowest ought to be played — as, for example, 
when you hold a quart to a king, as before direg 



70 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



ted. In a general way the rule shoLjd applj 
only to a high sequence heading the suit in youi 
own hand, and not to low or subordinate sequen- 
ces, to lead the highest of which would only de- 
ceive your partner without doing you any good . 
See an example in the note to the following rule, 
and also remarks on the trump lead. 

In other cases lead the lowest card of your suit, 

If you hold king, knave, ten, nine, and a smal] 
one, lead the nine ; if king, knave, ten, and oth- 
ers, the ten. These are exceptional combinations. 

If trumps are out before you open your suit, you 
should lead differently, keeping back your high 
cards. 

See the rules for trump leads, which apply in 
a great measure to this case also. 

Lead your own long suit, if you have one, before 
you return your partner's. 

Unless you happen to hold the master-card in 
your partner's suit, which you should part with 
as early as you can, to get it out of your partner's 
way, and prevent his imagining it is against him. 

In returning your partner's lead, if you held not 
more than three cards of the suit originally 7 always 
return the highest you have left. 



PRACTICAL ETTLK8. 



71 



To strengthen his hand, and as a conventional 
signal. If you originally held four, return the 
lowest, unless you have the master-card, which 
play out at once, as before directed. Also, if 
you happen to have discarded one of the four, 
play as if you had held only three. 

It is good to lead a suit in which your right-hand 
tdversary is weak, or your left-hand strong. 

I.e., lead up to the weak suit, or through the 
strong one. On this principle avoid, if possible, 
returning your partner's suit, if you have won 
his lead cheaply. 

(Indication of strength is given by the lead — 
of weakness by the play of third and fourth hand, 
and by the discard. ) 

If obliged to lead from a suit of less than four 
cards, the general rule is to lead the highest. 

To inform your partner. If you have any rea- 
son to know he is long in the suit, the rule ad- 
mits of no exception ; but if you are doubtful on 
this point, it may be taken with some reserve. 
For example, if you hold an honor and two 
small cards in a suit respecting which no indica- 
tion has yet been given, to lead the honor might 
not only throw away a chance of making it, but 
strengthen one of your adversaries. 



72 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Avoid leading a suit which one adversary ruffi^ 
and the other discards to. 

Unless you are sure of forcing the strong 
trurirp hand. 

Towards the end of the hand it may often win 
you an extra trick to avoid leading from a tenace 
or a " guarded second," and to try and induce your 
left-hand adversary to lead that suit for you. 

This is one of the points in which fine play if 
best shown. 



Second Sand. 

The general rule for the second hand is to pla^ 
your lovrest. 

For your partner has a good chance of win- 
ning the trick ; and the strength being on youi 
right, it is good to reserve your high cards Jpor- 
ticularly tenace.?. such as ace and queen) for the 
return of the lead, when you will become fourth 
player. 

With one honor and one small card the best 

flayers adhere to this rule. 



PRACTICAL ECXES. 



73 



The following are some of the most u^ual excep- 
tions to this rule : 

Holding Ace and King, . put on King. 
" King and Queen, " Queen. 

u Ace, Queen, Knave, " Knave. 
" Ace, Queen, Ten, " Queen. 

Also, if you have two high cards in sequence (as 
queen and knave, or knave and ten), with only 
one other ; or if you have three high cards in 
sequence with any number, it is generally consid- 
ered right to play the lowest of .he sequence second 
hand. 

To help your partner in case of the third hand 
being weak. There is, however, some danger of 
this being mistaken for the signal for trump 3, 
and your partner must be on his guard. 

The second round of a suit, it is generally right 
to win the trick, second hand, if you hold the best 
gard. 

Great strength in trumps, however, which 
always warrants a backward game, may some- 
times justify you in leaving it to your partner, 
particularly as you thereby keep the command 
of the adversary's suit. 
4 



74 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



If an honor is led, you should generally put a 
higher honor upon it. 

But if you are strong in the suit, you may hus* 
band your strength and play a small one. 

Do not trump a doubtful trick second hand ii 
strong in trumps : if weak, trump fearlessly. 

Third Sand. 

The general rule for the third hand is to play 
the highest you have. 

In order not only to do your best to win the 
trick, but to strengthen your partner's long suit, 
by getting the high cards out of his way. 

If you have a head sequence, remember to play 
the lowest of it. 

This rule is subject, however, to the peculiar at- 
tribute of the third hand as regards finessing. 

To know how to finesse properly, requires great 
judgment and experience, but there are a few 
useful rules of general application : 

a. The first-time round of a suit, if you hold 
me and queen, you always play the queen. 

b. With this exception, it is wrong in principle 



PRACTICAL EPLE8. 



75 



to finesse in your partner's long suit, as he wants 
the high cards out of his way. If you see thai 
he leads from weakness, or if he leads you 
strengthening cards in your own long suit, you 
may finesse more freely. 

c. It is dangerous to finesse the second-time 
round of a suit, as the chances are it will be 
trumped the third time. 

d. If, however, you are strong in trumps, you 
may finesse much more freely, as your trumps 
may enable you to bring your high cards in. 

e. With minor tenace it is generally proper to 
finesse the second round, as the best card must 
probably be to your left ; and if the third best is 
there also, both your cards must be lost in any 
case. 

/. It is of no use to finesse, if the previous play 
has shown that the intermediate card, against 
which you finesse, does not lie to your right ; 
for in that case it must be either with your part^ 
ner or your left-hand adversary, in either of 
which cases finessing is obviously useless. 

g. The advisableness or not of finessing in 
certain cases late in the hand is often determined 
by the fall of the cards or the state of the score ; 
e.g. , when you particularly want one trick to win 
or save the game, or if, from what you know of 
your partner's or opponents' cards, you see you 
can only get one, it would be wrong to finessi 
for the chance of gaining two. 



76 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Be careful to watch the fall of the cards from 
your left-hand neighbor, in order that, if he proves 
weak in a suit, you may avoid wasting high cards 
when small ones would suffice to win the trick over 
him. This is very necessary, as your partner is 
often likely to lead up to the weak hand. 

Fourth Hand. 

In this you have in most cases little to do but 
to win the trick as cheaply as you can. 

And recollect if you do win it cheaply, it may 
afford you a good hint for a good lead when you 
are in want of one. 

Cases sometimes arise, however, towards the 
close of the hand, where it is advisable not to win 
the trick. 

As, for example, when by not doing so you can 
force your left-hand adversary to lead up to youi 
tenace, or guarded second. 

There are also cases in which it is advisable to 
win a trick already your partner's. 

As, for example, to get high obstructing cards 
out of his way, or to enable you to lead up to a 



PRACTICAL EXILES. 



77 



weak hand, or otherwise to alter the position oi 
the lead. 

Management of Trumps. 

if you have five or more trumps always lead 
them, or signal to your partner to do so.* 

As explained in the foregoing theoretical re- 
marks. 

A trump lead from four may be warranted by 
strength, either of your own hand or your partners 
in other suits, but always requires judgment and 
care. 

But if you have a long suit to bring in, it is 
generally best, with four trumps, to lead the 
plain suit first. 

A trump lead from three or less is seldom wise, # 
being only justifiable by great strength in all other 
suits, or by special necessity, such as stopping a 
cross ruff, etc. 

* Good players are sometimes more cautious in asking 
for trunks than in leading them. The rule given by one 
of the best modem authorities is, not to ask for trumps 
unless you hold four with two honors, or rive with one 
honor, together with good cards in one of the hands. It 
is simpler, however, for learners to adhere to the rule, 
always to lead or ask for trumps when they hold five. 



78 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



You must, not lead trumps simply because yom 
long suit is tramped, for, if your adversaries ar« 
strong in them, you will only be playing their 
game. 

The proper card to lead from your own strong 
suit of trumps varies a little from that of common 
suits. 

For the latter is influenced by the chance o£ 
being ruffed, from which the trump suit is free. 

For this reason, unless you have commanding 
strength enough to disarm the adversaries at 
once, you play a more backward game, generally 
leading your lowest, to give the chance of the 
first trick to your partner. 

It is also often very advantageous to reserve a 
high trump to give you the lead the third time 
round, as in case of adverse strength of trumps 
remaining against you, it may enable you to 
force it with much advantage. 

If you have ace, king, queen, or any other com- 
manding sequence, lead the lowest of them first, 
and then the next lowest, and so on to inform 
your partner. 

If .you have ace, king, knave of trumps, it is 
good to lead the king and then stop, waiting for 
the return of the lead in order to finesse the 
knave. 

If your partner asks for trumps, you are bound 



PRACTICAL RULES. 



79 



to lead them, and if lie leads them you are bound 
to return them, the first opportunity. 

Remembering in either case, if yon had not 
more than three, to play your highest , in order to 
strengthen his hand. 

In inferring that your partner has asked for 
trumps, recollect that there are cases in which 
he may have necessarily played the higher card 
first ; in the trump signal it must be played un- 
necessarily. 

Never lead through an honor turned up, unless 
you otherwise want trumps led. On the other hand, 
do not hesitate to lead up to an honor, if you are 
strong in them. 

As explained in Chap. IV. 

You may finesse in trumps much more deeply 
than in plain suits, 

As master-cards must ultimately make. 

Ruff freely when weak in trumps, but not when 
strong. 

See directions for the Second Hand. 

It may often be advisable when strong in trumps 
even to refuse to trump a trick which is certainly 
against you, as your tramps will ultimately make 



so 



THE OK Y OF WHIST. 



and you may perhaps discard advantageously 
If you see your partner do this, he will probably 
want trumps led, and you must carefully avoid 
forcing him. 

Do not force your partner if weak in trumps 
yourself.* 

At least, not until you have ascertained it will 
do him no injury ; for your weakness renders it 
probable he may be strong, when forcing may be 
the worst injury you could do. 

On the other hand, force a strong trump hand of 
the adversary whenever you can. 

Whenever you are not strong enough to lead 
trumps, you are weak enough to force your ad- 
versary. 

If, when you or your partner are leading trumps, 
one adversary renounces, you should not generally 
continue the suit. 

As you would be expending two for one drawn 
Your proper game is then to try and make your 
and your partner's trumps separately. 

* One of the best modem players defines " four trumps 
with one honor" as sufficient strength to warrant your 

forcing your partner. 



PRACTICAL RULES. 



81 



It may, however, often be advisable, even un 
der this disadvantage, totally to disarm the 
adversary, if you or your partner have cards o* 
suits to bring" in. In this case, the renouncing 
hand should be led up to, rather than through. 

Similarly, if your partner renounces trumps, it is 
generally advisable to go on. 

As you draw two trumps by expending one. 

If you are dealer, retain the turn-up card as long 
as vou can. 

To inform your partner ; if not, recollect it, 
and notice when it falls. When, however, the 
adversaries are drawing trumps, it may sometimes 
be advisable to part with it unnecessarily, in 
order to make them believe you have no more. 

General Directions. 

Sort your cards carefully, both according to suit 
and rank, and count the number of each suit. 

This will greatly assist the memory. 

If not leading, always play the lowest of a se- 
quence. 

This is one of the modern conventional rules by 
which information is conveyed to your partner as 
to the contents of your hand, and if you have an 
4* 



82 



THEORY OF WHIST 



observant and educated partner it must be care* 
fully adhered to. 

Get rid of the commanding cards of your part- 
ner's long suit as soon as possible. Ketain those of 
the adversaries' suits as long as you conveniently 
can. 

As explained in Chap. IV. 

Discard generally from short or weak suits, not 
from long or strong ones. 

For the cards of the former are of very little 
use, while those of the latter may be very valua- 
ble. Besides, your first discard is generally a 
very important source of information* to your 
partner. 

It is, however, sometimes worth while to break 
the rule for the sake of retaining a guard to an 
honor or second-best card, particularly in your 
adversaries' suits. 

When you have the entire command of any suit 
it is a conventional signal for you to discard (when 
the opportunity arises) the best card, in order to 
inform your partner. 

Thus, having ace, king, queen, and knave of a 
suit not led, you would discard the ace ; for it 
must be obvious that you would not do this un- 
less you had others equally gocd behind. 



PRACTICAL RULES. 



83 



Discarding the second best generally intimates you 
have no more of that suit. 

You throw it away because it is not likely ta 
make. 

Be careful in the management of your small cards. 

In order not to mislead your partner. Do not 
throw away carelessly a three or four if you hold 
a two. 

When your partner first renounces a suit, call 
his attention to the fact. 

As it may save a revoke. 

Keep constantly in mind the desirableness oi 
affording information to your partner, of obtaining 
information as to his hand, and of playing the hands 
jointly. 

This being the essence of the modem game. 

Pay attention to the state of the score y which 
ought often to influence your play. 

Remember that the third trick saves the game 
when honors are equal ; that the fifth saves it 
against two by honors, and the seventh against 
four by honors. Xote also that the odd trick is 
twice as valuable as any other, as it makes a 
difference of two to the score. Notice further, 
when you are near winning the game, how manf 
tricks are wanting for that purpose. 



64 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



in all these cases it may be expedient to mod 
ify the usual play for the sake, of getting the 
tricks you want in preference to speculating f 01 
more ; for when you particularly require one 
trick, it would be folly to risk it (by finessing, 
for example) in order to have the chance of gain- 
ing two. 

The state of the score may sometimes influence 
your whole plan. For example, if the adversa- 
ries are four, and you have a bad hand, yon 
should lead your best trump, as explained in 
Chap. IV. 

Consider also the effect of the lead. 

It is often desirable to depart from the usual 
modes of play for the sake of gaining the lead, 
or of giving it to your partner. 

And it is also sometimes worth while even to 
throw away a trick in order to give the lead to 
one of your adversaries; as, for example, to 
make them lead up to a tenace or guarded 
second. 

These two latter rules afford the principal 
opportunities ion fine play. 

Do not be discouraged when sound play fails of 
success, which must often occur. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CONCLUSION. 

We have now expounded the theory of the 
modern scientific game, and shown the mode of 
carrying it out in practice. Any one who has 
sufficiently mastered the principles here laid down 
to apply them fluently in his play, may be called a 
sound player, and will possess by far the most im- 
portant qualification for proficiency in the game* 
He will have immense advantages over those who 
do not play on system : for he will know what he 
is about, which they never do ; and his game will 
be intelligible to a good partner, whom he will be 
in no danger of thwarting, as is so often done by 
untaught players. Every good player knows too 
well the annoyance of having a partner who, 
through want of appreciation of what a good game 
means, will persist in obstructing and opposing his 
play, often to their mutual discomfiture. 

And, it is worthy of remark how much a system 



86 TJETEOEY OF WHIST. 



atic commencement facilitates the study of the 
game. Everybody knows how difficult it is to 
learn Whist in the ordinary unsystematic way . 
the pupil is led blindly through a course of hetero- 
geneous rules, of the foundation of which he knows 
nothing, and which, therefore, have no meaning to 
him beyond mere empirical dicta. He must 
grope about for a long time in the dark, and can 
only enlighten himself by a gradual intuition of 
what the rules mean. 

But when the mode of play is shown to be a 
system, easily explained and as easily compre- 
hended, it is astonishing in how different a light 
the game appears. Its acquisition, instead of being 
laborious and repulsive, becomes easy and pleasant ; 
the student, instead of being frightened at the difS- 
culties, finds them vanish before him; and even 
those who, having formerly practised without 
method, take the trouble of learning the system, 
suddenly see the light break in upon them, and 
soon find themselves repaid a hundred-fold in the 
increased enjoyment and satisfaction the game will 
afford them. 

It is one of the groat advantages of the modern 
Scientific game, and of this systematic mode of 



CONCLUSION. 



87 



teaching it, that it renders Whist attractive to the 
young. It was formerly almost exclusively prac* 
tised by those somewhat advanced in life, whc 
alone were supposed to have acquired sufficient 
experience and judgment to play it well. But now 
that the results of experience have been reduced to 
a systematic form, capable of being presented at 
once to the mind, and sparing the years of practice 
formerly necessary for their induction, we find the 
game taken up as an attractive occupation by young 
men of high intellectual character, some of whom 
rank as the finest players. Audit is also due to the 
other sex to say, that the introduction of the sys- 
tematic form has been found to take from the game 
the stigma of being iC only fit for old maids," and to 
render it now as attractive to our daughters and 
sisters as it used to be to our aunts and grand- 
mothers. 

But, great as is the step gained by systematic or 
sound play, something more is necessary to make 
a good player ; for here other qualifications enter 
into requisition, such as observation, memory, infer 
ence, and judgment. We must devote a few words 
to these. 



88 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



If you aspire to become a good player, you must 
observe carefully. Look constantly at the board, 
watch every card as it falls, and notice particularly 
every honor. When you are practised in this, 
extend your special notice to the tens and nines, 
which, from their importance and the different ap- 
pearance they have from the lower cards, it has 
been found convenient to call semi-honors. Also 
let every original lead and renounce, or other sign 
of strength or weakness shown by each hand, im- 
press itself upon your mind as it occurs. 

A good player must also exercise some effort of 
memory to recollect the fall of the cards, and the 
indications given of the state of the hands. But 
the importance of this is vastly overrated by un- 
taught players. We often hear such expressions 
as — " Mr. So-and-so is a first-rate player, for he 
can recollect every card out ; " or, "I shall never 
play well — I have no memory." These are entirely 
delusions. Memory is of infinitely less importance 
than correct play. The best memory in the world 
will help a player very little if he does not under- 
stand and practise the principles of the game ; if 
he does, a very moderate mnemonical power will 



CONCLUSION. 



89 



suffice for every practical purpose. Let no one 
therefore despair on this ground. We will give a 
few hints, by following which the necessary power 
may soon be acquired. 

In the first place avoid all artificial systems, 
such as placing the trumps in a particular place 
(which is perfectly childish), or any other contri- 
vance of the kind, further than by carefully arrang- 
ing and counting your cards at the beginning of 
the hand. Trust to the natural memory only, 
which will soon answer your demands upon it. 

Then, do not attempt to recollect too much at 
once — go by degrees. It is totally unnecessary to 
recollect every card ; not one player in a hundred 
thousand could do that, or would desire to do it. 
The theory of the game shows us that there are 
some things much more important to attend to 
than others, and we should commence by directing 
the memory to these. For example : 

First. Always count the trumps; notice the 
honors as they fall ; and remember the trump card. 

Secondly. Direct your attention to your own 
most important suit, and try to recollect the fall of 
the honors in it. As soon as you can do this well s 
try also to remember the semi-honors* 



80 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Thirdly. Extend this to your partner's suit alscK 
Go as much further as you like ; but if you 
can do these, you will have done much to qualify 
yourself, as far as memory goes, for being a good 
player. 

Then a good player will draw inferences, from 
what he sees, as to where certain cards do or do 
not lie, and generally as to the state of the various 
hands. Few players have any idea to what an 
extent this may be carried by attentive and 
thoughtful observation. There is not a single card 
played from which information of some kind may 
not be inferred : in fact, as a great player expresses 
it, " Whist is a language, and eveiy card played is 
an intelligible sentence." The insight good players 
get into their fellow-players' hands appears to the 
unpractised almost like second-sight. Great skill 
in this can of course only be attained by great prac- 
tice and great attention, combined with some special 
talent; but every industrious and careful player 
may do much in the way of inference, and when he 
has mastered the principles of the game, he ought 
to give the subject his best study. 

The following are some examples of the way 



CONCLUSION. 



91 



in which inferences may be drawn from cards 
played : 



Lead. 



Play. 

(In the playefs own first 
lead.) 



Any plain suit 



King. 

Ace followed by queen. 
Ace, followed by a small one. 
Queen (plain suits). 

(Li returning his Partner's 
lead. ) 

Does not lead out the mas- 
ter-card 

Any card, afterwards drop- 
ping a lower one. 

Any card, afterwards drop- 
ping a higher one. 

(Generally .) 

Forces his partner. 

Re trains from doing so. 



Inference. 

N.B. When there is an al 
tentative, your own hand, 
or the fall of the other 
cards, will often determine 
it. No account is here 
taken of the signal for 
trumps, which icill some- 
times modify the inference 
to be drawn. 

Is the best in his hand ; he 
holds four or more of it ; 
and has not five trumps. 

Holds also either queen 01 
ace. 

Holds knave also. 
Had originally five or more. 
Holds also knave and 10' 
but not ace or king. 



Does not hold it. 
Has no more. 
Has more. 



Is strong in trumps. 
Is weak in them. 



82 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Second Player. 



Play. 

King (to small one led). 
Queen (ditto). 

Knave (dittoj. 



Any smaller card. 
Trumps a doubtful trick. 

Does not trump it. 



Infer encf- 
Holds ace also, or no mora 
Holds king also, or ace and 

ten, or no more. 
Holds also queen and king, 

or queen and ace, or 

queen and one other only, 

or no more. 
Has none lower. 
Has not more than three 

trumps. 
Has more than three. 



Third Player. 

Aea. Holds neither king noi 

queen. 

Fourth Player. 

Cannot win the trick. Has no card higher than 

the one against him. 

Wins it with any card. Has no card between this 

and the one against him. 

Second, Third, or Fourth Player. 

Any card. Has not the one next below 

it. 

Refuses to trump a trick Probably is strong in trumps 

certainly against him. and wants them led. 

Any discard, generally. Is weak in that suit. 



CONCLUSION. 93 



Play. 

Discards the best of any 
suit. 

Discards the second best. 
Plays unnecessarily a 

higher card before a 

lower. 



Inference. 
Has the next best aid tha 

full command. 
Has no more. 
Signal for trumps. 



When it is considered that several of these op- 
portunities for inference will occur in every trick, 
it will cease to be a matter of wonder what a clear 
insight skilled and observant players will, after a 
few tricks, obtain into each other's hands. 

And, lastly, a good player must apply the results 
of his observation, memory, and inference with 
judgment in his play. This cannot be taught : it 
must depend entirely on the individual talent or 
good sense of the player, and the use he makes of 
his experience in the game. This will vary im- 
mensely in different individuals, and the scope for 
individual judgment in play is one of the finest 
features of the game. 

It sometimes happens that a person who has qual- 
ified himself to be called a good player is further 
specially gifted by nature with the power to make 
master-strokes of genius and skill, which will then 



94 THEORY OF WHIST. 

constitute him a fine player, the highest grade tt 
which it is possible to attain. 

The student must, however, be careful not to 
aim at this too early ; remembering always that be* 
fore becoming a fine player he must learn to be a 
sound one^ and that the only way to do this is to 
be sought in a perfect systematic knowledge of the 
principles of the game. 



APPENDIX A. 



EXAMPLES OF HAXD3. 

The following are a few simple hands played 
through. They are not intended to exemplify skill, 
for, as in almost all hands, the play might admit 
of modification according to the capabilities of the 
several players; — they have merely the object of 
illustrating the routine practice of some of the more 
common and important points in the modern game ; 
— such as the signal for trumps, forcing, the return 
of a suit, discarding, and so on. 

A and C are partners against B and D ; the at- 
tention being chiefly directed to the play of the two 
former. The reader is supposed to play the elder 
hand A. The winner of each trick is marked with 
an asterisk. 



96 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



EXAMPLE I. 

The object of this example is to illustrate the 
making of a long plain suit, by the aid of tout 
partner's long suit of trumps; the trump lead being 
called for by signal. 



Heart*. Kg. 8. 6, 4, 2. 
Spades. 6. 2. 
Diamonds. 9, 6. 3. 2. 
Clubs. A. 7. 



Hearts. A. Q. En. 
Spades. 8, 7. 5. 
Diamonds. A. 10. 
Clubs. Q. En. 10. 



Hearts Trumps. 
B D 

(Pealer < 

9 turned up. 
A 



Hearts. 9, b, 3. 

Spades. Q. Kn. 

Diamonds. Kg, 
Q. En. 8. 7. 

Clubs. 9. 4, 2. 



Heart*. 10. 7. 

:les. A. Eg. 10, 9, 4, 3. 
Diamonds. 5. 4 
Clubs. Eg. 8, 6. 



EXAMPLES. 



97 



Trick. Play. 

L *A King of Sp. 
Bo 
C 6 

Remake. — Having five tramps, 
C agnate to have them led. A not 
Beemg the 2 fall, will know that 
Borne one is asking for trumps, and 
will therefore carefully watch the 
next round. 

D Knave 


Trick. Plav. 

V. B Q. of OL 
*C A. „ 
D 2 „ 
A 6 „ 


VI. C 4 of H. 
D 9 „ 
A 4 of Di. 
*B A. of H. 


II. *A Ace of Sp. 
B 7 
C 2 

Remake. — Trump signal com- 
pleted. 

B Q „ 


VU B Kn. of 01. 
C 7 „ 
O 4 „ 
*A Kg. „ 


III. A 10 of H. 

Remake. — In obedience to trump 
signal. 

B Kn. „ 
*C Kg. „ 
D 3 „ 


VIII. *A 10 of Sp. 

Remake. — A has now brought in 
his long suit, and pursues it to the 
end. 6 discards his diamonds. It 
is immaterial what the adversaries 
play. 

IX. *A 9 „ 
X*A4 „ 
XI. *A 3 ,, 
XII. *C 6 of H. 
XIII. *C 8 


IV. O 2 of H. 
D 5 „ 
A 7 „ 
*B Q. „ 



The result is that A and C win a treble bv cards 
against two by honors, and other considerable ad- 
verse strength. 



98 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



EXAMPLE II. 



In t_iis the elder hand (A) has the same long suit 
as before, but the strength in trumps is now given 
to the adversaries. The example is intended to il- 
lustrate how a long suit, though it may not be 
brought in, may be made useful in forcing the 
strong adverse trump hand. 



Hearts. Q. Kn. 5. 
Spades. 6. 

Diamonds. A. 8, 7, 3. 
Clubs. A. Q. Kn. 7, 2. 



O 



Hearts. Kg. 10, 6. 
4, 2. 



Hearts. A. 9, 8. 
Spades. 8,7,5,2. 
Diamonds. 9, 6, 2. 
Clubs. 10, 4, 3. 



Hearts Trumps. 
B D 



(Dealer) 

King turned up. 



Spades. Q. Kn. 
Diamonds. Kg. Q 



Kn. 10. 
Clubs. 9, 5. 



A 



Hearts. 7, 3. 

Spades. A. Kg. 10, 9, 4, 3. 

Diamonds. 5, 4. 

Slubs. Kg. 8, 6. 



EXAMPLES. 



90 



Trick. Play. Trick. Play. 



1. *A King of Sp. 
B 2 
O 6 
D Q. 

Remark. — Commencement of sig- 
nal for trumps. 


VII. *C A. of CI. 
Do „ 
A 6 „ 
B 3 „ 


EL *A A. of Sp. 

"Remark. — Better to go on with 
spades at the risk of being trumped 
than to open a new weak suit. 
Bo 

C 3 of Di. 
D Kn. of Sp. 

Remark. — Signal completed. 


> xxx. \*> Vj. 01 KjL. 

D 9 „ 

'A Kg. „ 
Remark. — To get rid of the com- 
mand. 

B i „ 


DX A 10 of Sp. 
Remark. — To force the adverse 
Land which has, by asking for 
trumps, declared itself strong in 
them. 

B 7 

C 7 of Di. 

*Tl 9 ~-P XT 


IX. A 9 of Sp. 

Remark. — Repeating the form 
to extract the last trump. 
B 8 " 
C 8 of Di. 

*d io of h. 


IV. D 4 of EL 
A 3 „ 
*B A. „ 

C 5 „ 


X. D 10 of Di. 
A o „ 
B 2 „ 

*G A „ 


V. B 9 of H. 
C Kn.,, 
*D Kg.,, 
A 7 „ 


XX *C Kn. of CL 

Remark. — The adverse tmmpa 
being now all forced out. C, ha ving 
gained the lead by a card of re- 
entry, brings in his ekibe, and 
makes them all. 

XII. *C 7 „ 
XIII. *C 2 „ 


VL D 6 of H. 
A 4 of Di. 
B 8 of H. 

*e Q- » 



A and O gain 3 by cards. 



100 



THEOEY OF WHIST. 



EXAMPLE III. 

The object of this is to illustrate the value of the 
discard, as a means of communicating information. 

Hearts. A. 9, 7, 6. 
Spades. 6, 2. 

Diamonds. Q. Kn. 10, 9, 4. 

Clubs. 8, 3, 

C 

Hearts. Q. 8, 5. Hearts Tramps. 
Spades. Kn. 10, 4. -g 
Diamonds. A. 3. (Dealer) 
Clubs. A.Q.9,7, 10 turned up. 

A 

Hearts. Kg. 4, 2. 
Spades. A. Kg. Q. 5, 3. 
Diamonds. Kg. 5. 
Clubs. Kg. 6, 5. 



Hearts. Kn. 10, 3. 

Spades. 9, 8, 7. 

Diamonds. 8, 7 
6, 2. 

Clubs. Kn. 10, 4 



EXAM PLES. 101 



Trick. Play. 
L *A Kg. of Sp. 
B 4 „ 
C 2 
D 7 



II. 



"A Q. of Sp. 
B 10 „ 
C 6 „ 
D 8 ,, 



III. *A A. of Sp. 
B Kn. „ 

C 3 of CI. 
Remark. — This discard at once 
gives great insight into C's hand. 
He discaids from his weak suit, and 
therefore he ought to be strong in 
trumps and diamonds. But he has 
not 5 trumps or he would have sig- 
nalled for them, and hence, in all 
probability, he has at least 4 or 5 
diamonds. 

D 9 of Sp. 



IV. A Kg. of Di. 

Remark. — The spade lead being 
now unadvisable, A is justified in 
acting on the information gained by 
his partners discard, and leads a 
strengthening diamond. 

*B A. „ 
D2 



*B A. of CI. 
C 8 „ 

„ 

A 5 „ 



Trick. Plav. 
VI. B 2 Of CI. 

C Q. of Di. 

Remark. — This second discard 
completes the full information as to 
B's hand. In the first place, having 
passed a doubtful trick, he has mote 
than three trumps, and. as we navo 
seen, he has not five, he must have 
four with three diamonds. Second- 
ly, his discarding the best diamond 
shows he has perfect command of 
the suit remaining behind. 

D lOof CI. 
*A Kg. 



VII. *A Kg. of H. 

Remark. — Strengthening trump 
lead, justified by the knowledge 
gained in the last trick. 
Bo 

C 6 „ 
D 3 „ 



VIII. 



A 4 of H. 
B 8 „ 
*C A. „ 
B 10 „ 



IX. 



C 7 of H. 
D Kn. „ 
A 2 „ 
*B Q. „ 



X. B Q. of CI. 
*C 9 of H. 
Remark. — Uses the last tarns cp to 
bring in hi? diamonds. 

D Kn. of GL 
A 6 



XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 



*C 9 of Di 
*C 10 „ 
*C Kn. „ 



A and O win 4 by cards, 



102 



THEOKY OF WHIST, 



EXAMPLE IV. 

The object of this is to illustrate the advantage 
of returning the proper card of your partner's lead, 
us a means of conveying information. 



Hearts. 8, 5, 4. 

Bpades. Kn. 5. 

Diamonds A. Q. 
Kn. 8, 3. 

Clubs. A. Kg. 4. 



Hearts. A. 9, 3, 2. 
Spades. A. Q. 6, 2. 
Diamonds. Kg. 5, 4, 
Clubs. 6, 3. 

C 

Hearts Trumps. 
B D 

(Dealer) 

6 turned up. 
A 



Hearts. Kn. 6. 

Spades. 10, 9, 8, 7 

Diamonds. 9, 6. 

Clubs. Q t 10, 9 
5, 2. 



Hearts. Kg. Q. 10, 7 
Spades. Kg. 4, 3. 
Diamonds. 10, 7, 2. 
Clubs. Kn. 8, 7. 



EXAiLPLKS. 



103 



Trick. Play. 
% A 7 of H. 

Remark. — In this hand every 
plain suit is so bad to lead that the 
trump lead with such strength is 
quite justifiable. 

B 4 „ 
*C A. „ 
D 6 „ 


Trick Play. 
IY. A 10 of Di 

Remark. — For want of a better 
lead, you lead up to the suit that 
has been declared weak. 
B Kn. „ 
*C Kg. „ 
D 9 „ 


V. C 2 of Sp. 
D 7 „ 
*A Kg. „ 
So „ 


IL C 2 of IL 

Remark.— From this card return- 
ed, C must either have four or no 
more. 

D Kn. „ 
*A Q. M 
Bo „ 


VX A 4 of Sp. 
Remark.— See remark, next trick. 
B Kll. ,, 

*C Q. „ 
D 8 „ 



in. *a io of a 

Remark. — It is justifiable to take 
out another round of trumps, though 
two may fall for one : partly to see 
how they lie, and partly to get a 
discard from some one as a guide 
for the next lead. Leading the 10 
instead of the King is an additional 
assurance to your partner that you 
have still one left. 

B 8 „ 
C 3 „ 

Remark. — This card shows that 
C, having returned his lowest in 
the last trick, had four at first, and 
has consequently now one remain- 
ing, which therefore you are care- 
ful not to draw, as the game will 
depend on the two being made 
separately. 

D 6 of DL 



VII. *C A. of Sp. 
D 9 „ 
A 3 

Remark. — This shows that you 
( A"i having returned your highest, 
had not more than three spades 
originally, and consequently have 
no more left. Your partner (0) 
therefore, observing this, sees that 
by leading the losing spade, he will 
enable you to make your trump 
separately from his, which will win 
the game. 

B 4 of CI. 



VIII C 6 of Sp. 
D 10 ,. 
*A Kg. of H. 
Remabk. — You trump without 
hesitation, knowing your partner to 
hold the other trump. 

B 3 of Di 



C makes the last trump, and A and C make 3 bj 
cards and 2 by honors, mnning a treble. 



104 



THEORY OF UHIST. 



EXAMPLE V. 



This example is given to show how singularly, 
under extreme circumstances, the bringing in of a 
long suit may annihilate the most magnificent cards. 
The hand is a very remarkable Whist curiosity : A 
and O hold all the honors in every p]ain suit, and 
two honors in trumps, and yet do not make a single 
trick ! 



Spades. Q. Kn. 

Diamonds. Kn. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. 

Clubs. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. 



Hearts. A. Q. 10, 
8. 

Spades. 10, 9, 8, 
7, 6, 5, 4, 3 2. 



Hearts trumps. 
B D 
(Dealer) 
2 turned up. 
A 



Hearts. 6, 5, 4, 
3, 2. 

Diamonds. 5. 4, 
3, 2. 

Clubs. 5, 4, i 2. 



Hearts. Kg. Kn. 9, 7. 
Spades. A. Kg. 
Diamonds. A. Kg. Q. 
Clubs. A. Kg. Q. Km 



EXAMPLE. 



105 



Trick. Play. 
I A 7 of H. 

Remarks. — There can be no 
doubt about this being the proper 
lead. 

*B 8 „ 
C 6 of CL 
D 2 of H. 


Trick. Play. 
IV. B 3ofSp. 
OQ „ 
*D 5 of H. 
A A. of Sp. 


V. D 6 of H. 
A Kn „ 

*B Q. „ 
C 8 of CL 


IL B 2 of Sp. 
C Kn. „ 
*D 3 of H. 
A Kg. of Sp. 


III. D 4 of H. 

Remarks. — The propriety of this 
lead is often questioned ; but it is de- 
fended by the impolicy of leading 
either of the extremely weak plain 
suits, and by the lead of trumps be- 
ing up to a renouncing hand, and 
therefore the most favorable pos- 
sible. Al&o, by giving B the lead, 
again, it enables him to continue 
the spade, for D to make his small 
trumps upon. 

A 9 „ 
*B10 „ 

C 7 of CL 


VI. *B A. of H. 
A Kg. „ 


VII. *B 10 of Sp 
VIII. *B 9 „ 
IX. *B 8 
X. *B 7 „ 
XI. *B 6 „ 
XII. *B 5 „ 
XIII. *B 4 „ 



B and D win every trick. 



APPENDIX B. 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES, DEPENDING 
ON THE STYLE OF PLAY OF YOUR PARTNER. 

It has been the principal object of this work to 
show that the modern scientific game of "Whist im 
plies a combination of the hands of the two part- 
ners ; and it is of course essential to this combina- 
tion, that each of the two partners must concur in 
adopting such a mode of play as will efficiently 
carry it out. Is is not necessary that each should 
be equally skilful, or should bring an equal amount 
of judgment to bear, but it is essential that each 
should understand the game in the same way ; 
should be guided by the same main principles, and 
should adopt the same system in the general treat- 
ment of his hand. 

Now, unfortunately, it happens that among the im- 
mense numbers of persons who play Whist, or who 
pretend to play it, only a small minority at present 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 107 

do understand or follow tlie system of the combined 
game. Hence it continually happens, as every ex- 
perienced Whist-players knows, that you may sit 
down opposite a partner whose ideas of the game 
so little agree with your own, that any attempts 
you may make to bring about a combination of the 
hands are abortive. 

It becomes an interesting question, therefore, what 
is the best course for you to follow under such cir- 
cumstances ? How far will it be prudent to adhere 
to the usual system ? and in what particulars should 
it be departed from ? It is impossible to give any 
complete answer to these questions ; there* may be 
such infinite variety in your partner's style of play, 
that no prescribed plan would meet all cases. You 
may find almost infinite gradations — from the mere 
blunderer, ignorant of any kind of principle or rule, 
to the clever, shrewd, observant player of the old 
school, who will make the most skilful efforts to 
win the game, but will still refuse to adopt the 
proper means to show you his hand, or to under- 
stand and act on the indications you may give him 
of yours. 

The following extract from an article on ' Modern 
Whist,' in the 6 Quarterly Review' for January 1871, 
contains the only attempt we know of to classify 
Whist-players according to their mode of play : — 



108 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



EXTRACT. 

u It would be vain to attempt to descrit e all the 
infinite varieties of bad play ; but it may be useful 
to give a few of its most salient characteristics, and 
this we may do by dividing whist-players into four 
classes, with, however, the proviso that such a clas- 
sification must be only approximate, and far from 
exhaustive in the lower grades. 

Beginning with the worst, the fourth class appear to 
have derived their ideas of playing from certain oral 
traditions, which, though widely spread, and doubt- 
less of great antiquity, it is difficult to trace to any 
definite origin. Probably they may be the handing- 
down of the rudest practice in the infancy of the 
game. We have, as a matter of curiosity, paid 
some attention to the habits of this class, and the 
following may be taken as a summary of their chief 
rules, which, we believe, now appear in print for the 
first time : — 

6 If you have an ace and king of any plain suit, 
lead them out at once. If not, lead from the best 
card you hold, in the hope of making it some time • 
or lead a single card for ruffing. 

( But if fortunately your partner has led before 
you, you have only to return his lead, and need not 
take the trouble of scheming a lead of your own. 



OK MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 109 



' Never lead trumps, even if led first by your part- 
ner ; It is wasting them, as they might make tricks 
by trumping. 

6 In all other cases do the best you can.' 

The only idea of skill possessed by these players, 
is in recollecting the high cards that are out, and in 
discovering when the partner is likely to be short 
of a suit, that they may force him to trump ; they 
are quite indifferent as to the play of sequences and 
small cards, and wonder at anybody attaching im- 
portance to such trifles. This class forms the great 
mass of domestic players ; they are generally very 
fond of the game, and practise it a great deal ; but 
their improvement is almost hopeless, as it is so hard 
to get them to take the first step, i.e. to unlearn 
everything they already know. 

The third class are more deserving of respect. 
They have probably belonged originally to the fourth 
class, but by reading Hoyle or JVlatthews, or some 
of the old books, aided by careful attention, practice, 
and natural ability, they have risen much above it, 
and have acquired, in domestic circles, the reputa- 
tion of being superior players They are very ob- 
servant, recollect and calculaie well, draw shrewd 
inferences as to how the cards lie, and generally are 
adepts in all the accidental features of good play 
Their management of trumps is diametrically op 



110 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



posed to that of the fourth class, as they have a great 
penchant for leading them, a course almost always 
advantageous for them with inferior adversaries. 

But skilful as these players are, they commit, as 
Deschapelles says, 6 one long and continual fault 
which they do not see they are ' forts joueurs qui 
sont de detestables partenaires.' They do not play 
upon system; they will not conform to the conven- 
tional language of the game ; and hence they lose 
the great advantage of the combination of their own 
with their partner's hands. They, indeed, usually 
object to system altogether, arguing that the play 
should be dictated by their own judgment. A play- 
er of this class wdll often lead from short suits, or 
will lead trumps when weak, or abstain from lead- 
ing them when strong, or will even refuse to return 
his partner's lead in them ; or, in fact, will adopt 
any other mode of playing for his own hand alone : 
* the worst fault,' says Mr. Clay, c which I know in 
a whist player.' 

If players of this class knew how easily they might 
step into the rank of first-class adepts, by simply 
adopting the orthodox system, they might be induced 
to devote a few hours to its acquisition ; but the 
great obstacle to their improvement is the pride they 
take in their own skill, which they object to make 
subservient to a set of rules, and, perhaps, in some 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. Ill 



instances, to the will of a partner inferior to them* 
selves. 

The second class are those who play according tc 
correct system, but who, from want either of prac- 
tice or of talent, do not shine in individual skill. 
This is generally the case with the young who are 
properly taught, and their number is happily increas- 
ing every day. Two such players would unques- 
tionably win over two much superior adversaries of 
the third class ; and they make such admirable part- 
ners, that a fine player, working with one of them, 
would, of himself, realize almost the full advantage 
of the combination of the hands. This class aro 
eminently hopeful ; they are already entitled to the 
name of good, sound players, and if they have only 
moderate abilities, they must continually improve. 

The first, or highest class, are those who, to the 
soundness and system of the second class, add the 
personal skill of the third. They then become fine 
players, and, although there may be among them 
many grades of excellence, they may, as a class, be 
said to have arrived at the summit of the scale." 

o — 

In the face of the immense variety of the style of 
play one may meet with, the only general advice 
that can be given is, as soon as it becomes apparent 



112 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



that your partner does not understand your own 
system, observe his play carefully, and endeavor 
to discover what his peculiarities are ; and if you 
find he has any fixed habits at all, you may in most 
cases adapt your own play to them, and so turn 
them to your joint advantage. If he cannot, or 
will not, fall in with your system, you must adopt 
his, and so endeavor still, in defiance of him, to 
make some sort of a combination, and avoid the 
cross purposes which are so beneficial to the adver 
sary. 

Although, however, the varieties of play which 
you may meet with from ill-educated, obstinate, or 
impracticable partners are so wide, and require, to 
make the best of them, such a special study of their 
individual characteristics, yet it is possible to adopt 
certain precautionary measures in your own play, 
which will be of pretty general applicability. These 
deserve some careful investigation, and to enable us 
to study them conveniently, it is sufficient to assume 
the sole condition, in regard to your partner's play, 
that in playing his hand he does not adopt the rec* 
ognized modern combined system, which it has been 
the object of this work to explain. 

If we examine carefully the various principles 
and rules which have been based on this system, 
we shall find in how many cases the rules them 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 113 



selves fail, when the mutuality, on which they rest, 
ceases to exist. The fundamental theoretical prin- 
ciple of the modern game, explained in Chap. III., 
is, That the hands of the two partners shall not be 
played singly and independently, but shall be com- 
bined and treated as <?ne. 

Now, by the assumed condition of your partner's 
play, the two hands cannot be combined and treated 
as one, for he does not enter into the required com- 
bination. And as, therefore, the fundamental ele- 
ment of the combination fails, the rules must be re- 
examined under another aspect, namely, that of their 
bearing on your own hand. If the use of a particu- 
lar rule of play is either to give information to your 
partner, on which he is to act, or to support him in 
some scheme of combination originated by him, 
then such a rule must be abandoned or modified, as 
useless to your side, and only giving the opponents 
arms against you. But if, on the other hand, we 
find a certain rule beneficial per se, without refer- 
ence to the combination, it may be retained. 

And in this case, another element may be admitted 
into consideration which has been carefully excluded 
under the combined system, namely, that of playing 
so as to deceive the adversaries. In the combined 
game, any unnecessary departures from recognized 
play, or any ' false cards,' are imperatively forbidden. 



114 THEORY OF WHIST. 

on the ground that deceiving your partner does more 
evil than deceiving your adversaries does good. But, 
manifestly, if your partner fails to draw the proper 
inferences, false play will not deceive him, and there- 
fore, so far from being forbidden, it is to be re- 
commended for its misleading effect on observant 
opponents. 

We may now go somewhat in detail through the 
various rules for play, keeping these conditions in 
mind. And the first thing to consider is how they 
affect the general system of treating the hand. 

General System of Treating the Sand. 

In Chapter III. it is stated that, in order that 
the two hands may be managed conjointly to the 
best advantage, it is requisite that each partner 
should adopt the same general system of treating his 
hand. And after discussing fully the various sys- 
tems that may be adopted, the conclusion is arrived 
at that the preferable one for this purpose is the 
long suit system / which determines that the open- 
ing of the game shall be by a long suit lead. 

But it is manifest that if the combination of the 
hands is not to be carried out, the reason above 
given for the adoption of any particular system 
fails. Your partner will not adopt it, neither wilt 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 115 



he draw the proper inference from its adoption by 
you. Hence — which is the important thing — you 
are relieved from any restraint as to the opening of 
your game, and may make your first lead what- 
ever you may deem most consistent with the inter 
ests of your own hand. 

The long suit lead has many advantages per se, 
independently of the information it conveys. If 
you can establish the suit, you may possibly bring 
it in, without your partner's aid, and if not, its 
cards may often be useful for forcing your adver 
saries. Moreover, it is always a good defensive 
lead, as it avoids the danger of contributing to the 
establishment of any long suit of theirs. For these 
reasons, having a good long suit in your hand, it is 
generally the safest plan to lead from it, even 
though the most important motive for doing so is 
gone. 

But, under the circumstances we are now con 
sidering, the rule no longer becomes imperative 
You may lead a single card, or from a suit of two, 
or three, with perfect freedom, if it suits you. It 
is impossible to give rules for such cases ; the player 
must exercise his judgment on them as they arise. 



116 



THEORY OF WfrlST. 



Plain Suit Leads. 

Supposing that you decide to adopt the long suit 
lead, the next question is, what card of the suit you 
shall play first ; and in this particular the fact of 
having an unsystematic partner considerably modi 
fies the ordinary rules. 

From ace and king, the ordinary lead is king first, 
to inform your partner. With a bad partner this is 
useless, and, as he might trump the king if he has 
not one of the suit, it is better to begin with the ace. 

From king and queen, the king is still the best 
lead, to prevent you partner from putting on the 
ace, or to force it out from the adversaries. 

From queen, knave, and ten, still lead the queen, 
for analogous reasons. 

From ace, queen, knave, the usual lead, ace fol- 
lowed by queen, can hardly be improved upon ; 
possibly, however, to follow the ace with the knave 
might deceive the adversaries as to the position of 
the queen, and might be useful in inducing your 
partner to put on the king, but it would not be so 
certain to force it out if on your left hand. 

From king, queen, knave, ten, or king, knave, ten. 
the ten may be adhered to, as the best way of 
making your partner get rid of the commanding 
cards, 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 117 



From ace and four others, the usual lead, of the 
ace first, enables a good partner to count your hand : 
— with a bad one you may begin with a small one, 
as the best chance of making two tricks in the suit. 

In the other cases, where, with a good partner, 
you lead the smallest card you have, with a bad one 
you should prefer an intermediate one, as it is of 
little consequence to you, or your partner, and may 
puzzle the adversaries. If you have an intermedi 
ate sequence, it is good to lead one of the cards 
forming it : thus with king, ten, nine, eight, and 
three, lead the nine ; which may prevent a small 
card from winningo 

Leading f rom a Short Su it. 

If in the ordinary game you lead from a short and 
weak suit (say, for example, ten and two small ones, 
or knave and a small one), you lead the highest, to 
inform your partner. But when this motive fails^ 
the practice would only convey information to be 
used against you ; and you may lead the lowest or 
an intermediate card, to mystify your adversaries, 
and prevent their drawing any correct inference 
from your play. 



118 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



Leading Trumps from Five. 

This is almost always advantageous in the com 
bined game, because with such great numerical 
strength you may generally disarm the opponents, 
and bring in your own or your partner's long suits 
or high cards. 

But to do this you must have your partner's co- 
operation ; and this, with an uneducated player, you 
probably will not obtain. He may not understand 
the long suit system; or he may consider your 
trump lead a mistake, and refuse to return it, or, 
still worse, he may force you, and so spoil youi 
plan. 

In this state of things, the question whether you 
should lead the trump requires much consideration, 
and is not easily solved. 

If yours is not the first lead of the hand, 
probably the previous tricks may give you some 
clue as to how the cards lie. In the absence of such 
clue, probably the best guide is to consider the prob 
able advantages of the trump lead as regards youi 
own hand. If your other cards are good, the trump 
lead will, most likely, be the best thing, and you 
must defend yourself against any autagonistic pro- 
ceedings of your partner as best you can. If, on the 
contrary, you have only a poor hand, you may do 



OIS MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 119 

better by ruffing, in which case your opponents may 
lead trumps themselves. It is one of the cases in 
which your own judgment at the time must direct 
you. 

What Card to lead from a Strong Suit of Trumps. 

In the proper game you generally lead the lowest, 
unless you have three honors ; your partner has a 
good chance of winning the first trick, and you may 
depend on his returning the suit the first opportu- 
nity. With a bad partner the case is not so clear, 
as he may not approve the trump lead, and may 
prefer to keep his trumps for ruffing. 

Hence, if it is very important to you to get 
trumps out, and you hold ace and others, it is better 
for you to make sure of two rounds without your 
partner's aid. This, however, should only be done 
under a pressing emergency, as it is so very desir- 
able to keep up the command. In the majority of 
cases, adhere to the usual rule, and if your partner 
does not return the suit, get the lead yourself 
again as early as you can, and complete the extrac- 
tion. 

Returning your Partner's Trump Lead. 

This you are bound to do when playing with a 
good partner, for reasons fully stated in Chap. I V 



120 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



But you are not bound to return the trump lead 
of an uneducated or unsystematic player, as you 
have no confidence that his lead is dictated by the 
proper motives. Wild and unjustifiable trump leads 
are the most common characteristic of bad players, 
just as cautious trump leads are of good ones. When, 
therefore, playing with one of the former class, he 
leads a trump, it would be folly for you to return 
it, unless either it suits your own hand, or you can 
infer by the fall of the cards that he has stumbled 
upon a correct mode of play. 

Returning your Partner's Lead in Plain Suits. 

This you may generally do, as he may have some 
motive or other which it will be as well for you to 
fall in with. He may not, probably will not, lead 
his longest suit ; he may lead either from a high 
card, in hopes of making it, or from a single card, in 
hopes of ruffing. In either case you may humor 
him, and let him do what he can towards trick-mak- 
ing in his own way, provided it does not interfere 
with any more advantageous scheme of your own. 

What Card to return to your Partners Lead, 

The rule of returning the higher, if you have onlj 
two left, must on no account be followed with a bat? 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 121 

partner. Its object is to aid your partner in estab* 
lishing his long suit; to get rid of the command ; to 
give him a good opportunity of finessing ; and to in- 
form him how many cards of the suit you hold. 
But every one of these advantages is thrown away 
on an unsystematic player, and you may be only 
wasting good cards, and affording information ta 
the adversary. 

Forcing your Partner. 

In the correct game you must not force your part- 
ner if there is a probability that he is strong in 
trumps ; but this rule does not apply when you are 
playing with an unsystematic partner. He may 
probably wish to use his trumps for ruffing, and you 
must humor him rather than thwart him. Hence, 
if he fails in a suit, do not be deterred (as you would 
be in the correct game) from forcing him, by the 
mere fact of your being weak in trumps yourself: 
since to abstain will do you no good, and will rather 
benefit the adversaries. 

Calling for Trumps. 

This of course is useless with an unsystematic 
partner ; it will only convey information to your 
disadvantage. Considering, however, the impres- 



122 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



sion fco be produced on the adversaries, it is possible 
sometimes so to deceive them as to induce them to 
lead trumps. For example, if one of them leads the 
king of a suit, you having queen and a little one, 
your queen must fall the second round, and by 
throwing it away on the first round you may often 
induce the leader to stop his suit and substitute a 
trump lead, particularly if he is a player of the old 
school. Further, you may often advantageously make 
a feigned call (for example, when you have one or 
two little trumps and want to ruff), with the view 
of preventing the adversaries from leading trumps, 
which they, being strong, might otherwise do. 

Second Player, 

With ace, king, you may put on the ace. "With 
king, queen, the king. With ace, queen, knave, 
the queen. With queen, knave, ten, the queen or 
knave. With king, knave, ten, the knave. With 
queen, knave, and one other, the queen. All these 
effect the desired objects without betraying your 
hand. 

In other cases the ordinary conventional rule of 
playing the ]owest should not be followed, if you can 
play an intermediate card without detriment to your 
own hand. If you hold only tw^o cards, it may 
often be good to play the higher, unless it is an ace, 



ON MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 123 



which it is advisable to hold up over the leader. 
This style of play will effectually mystify your 
adversaries, and do neither you nor your partner 
harm. 

Trumping a Doubtful Trick. 

The usual rule is to trump if weak in trumps, but 
not if strong, which gives useful indications to your 
partner. The rule may be generally adhered to, as 
it is also the best play for your own hand ; but cases 
may arise where you may wish to follow a contrary 
course, and in these you may get rid of the usual 
fear of deceiving your partner. It may even be de- 
sirable sometimes to adopt the reverse of the usual 
play, for the purpose of expressly deceiving the ad- 
versaries, and leading: them to do something advan- 
tageous to you. 

Third Player. Finessing. 

Being third player you are still bound to do your 
best to win the trick, by generally playing your 
highest ; but you have, with a bad partner, much 
more liberty as regards finessing. 

In the proper combined game you are forbidden 
to finesse to your partner's original lead, except 
with ace, queen. With a partner wmo does not 
lead, od principle, from his longest suit, this re- 



124r THEORY OF WHIST. 

striction does not apply, and you may often finesse 
with advantage ; with king, knave, and a small one. 
for example, the knave is a very good card to pla\ 
third hand. 

Fourth Player. 

The usual rule is, if you cannot win the trick, 
throw away the smallest card you have. With an 
unobservant partner this is of no use ; consequent- 
ly, to deceive the adversaries, throw away a higher 
one. 

You may also often puzzle them by winning your 
partner's trick unnecessarily, if the card you win it 
with is not likely to be otherwise useful. 

Sequences, Second, Third, or Fourth Sand. 

With a good partner it is imperative to play the 
lowest card of a sequence, as one of the most fre- 
quent and most useful modes of giving him infor- 
mation. When, however, the partner is unobserv- 
ant, the rule should be systematically violated, as 
one of the best means of mystifying the adversaries. 
Play sometimes the highest, sometimes a middle 
card, and the lowest occasionally, so as to prevent 
them from forming any idea what rule you are like- 
ly to follow. 



OX MODIFICATIONS OF THE RULES. 125 



Discarding. 

In the proper game you discard from a weak or 
short suit, which gives a good partner a positive in- 
dication in what direction your strength lies. The 
rule is considered so essential by good players that 
they will even unguard a king or a queen for the 
sake of adhering to it. 

With a bad partner this is of course useless, and 
you must study your own hand alone. If the cards 
of the weak suit are worthless, it may often still be 
advantageous to preserve your long suit ; but on no 
account should you risk losing a good card, which 
might be of much use in the play of the hand. It 
may even be advantageous sometimes to throw away 
from your long suit, particularly if it contains a 
tenace, with the object of deceiving the adversaries, 
and getting it led up to. 



These remarks, though necessarily incomplete 
and indefinite, will give some idea of the manner in 
which the play of a hand should be modified by the 
fact of having a bad partner ; and probably their 
chief value should be in leading the student to avoid 
a blind and unreasoning adoption of fixed rules, but 
r^her to cultivate a constant habit of reasoning as 



126 



THEORY OF WJIIST. 



he plays, and of considering less the rules themselves 
than the principles they are founded on. If the 
player can always bear in mind the reason why, in 
the ordinary game, he ought to do a certain thing, 
he "will have but little difficulty in appreciating th^ 
cases, as they arise, when this reason fails, and 
when, consequently, the established rule no longer 
applies. 

Such cases must constantly occur in playing with 
an unsystematic partner ; and the ability promptly 
and skilfully to deal with them, is one of the great 
characteristics of a fine player. And although it is 
very customary for those who know and appreciate 
the correct game to dislike sitting opposite to inca- 
pable, uneducated, or obstinate partners, and to 
consider themselves somewhat in the light of mar- 
tyrs when they are obliged to do so, yet there can 
be no doubt that, from the opportunities such cases 
afford for variety of practice, they may, by careful 
observation and earnest study, be made conducive, 
in no mean degree, to improvement in the game. 



BHYMING RULES, MNEMONIC M A 2 « 
IMS, AND POCKET PRECEPTS. 



BEING SHORT MEMORANDA OF IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE KEPT Eg 
MIND BY THOSE WHO WOULD PRACTISE THE MODERN 
SCIENTIFIC GAME OF WHIST. 



If you the modern game of Whist would know, 
From this great principle its precepts flow : 
Treat your own hand as to your partner's joined, 
And play, not one alone, but both combined. 

Your first lead makes your partner understand 
What is the chief component of your hand ; 
And hence there is necessity the strongest 
That your first lead be from your suit thaVs longest. 

In this, with ace and king, lead Mug, then ace; 
With king and queen, king also has first place ; 
With ace, queen, knave, lead ace and then the queen £ 
With ace, four small ones, ace should first be seen ; 
With queen, knave, ten, you let the queen precede; 
In other cases, you the lowest lead. 

Ere you return your friend's, your own suit play; 
But trumps you must return without delay. 

When you return your partner's lead, take paina 
To lead him back the best your hand contains, 
If you received not more than three at first ; 
If you had more, you may return the worst. 



THEORY OF WHIST. 



But if yon hold the :\: rd. voure hound 

In most cases t: 

Whene'er tou w 
To lead :o M 

L second hand. 

Or if you've kir. 
Then one of the 

Mini well the r 

Weww you holi five, t:s always ?.:}Hi to lej 

Watch disc for your partner's rrnrp request, 
To which, icita ? :1: : play ont tout best 

Unless yon want ihe trump snht cleared away. 

Wnen. sec: nil tand, a doubtful trick yon see. 
BorCi trump it if yonhila mom- trumps than three; 

When weak in trumps yourself, don't f tree your friend . 
But always force the adzerse string trump hand. 

For sequences, stem custom has decreed 
The /y.mm you must play, if you a: n't lead. 



your lowest should be played, 
n trump signal" t: be made; 
g and queen , or ace and Jdng, 
sse will be the proper thing . 

ales for " :. you'll :f:en need them: 



When you discard. uiiak suits you ought to choose* 
For strong on^s are too valuable to lose. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 

VERBATIM FROM THE PORTLAND CLUB 
CODE. 



THE RUBBER. 

1. The rubber is the best of three games. If the first 
two games be -von by the same players, the third game 
is not played. 

SCORING. 

2. A game consists of five points. Each trick, above 
six, counts one point. 

3. Honours, i. e., Ace, King, Queen, and Knave of 
trumps, are thus reckoned: 

If a player and his partner, either separately or con- 
jointly, hold — 

I. The four honours, they score four points. 
II. Any three honours, they score two points. 
III. Only two honours, they do not score. 

4. Those players, who, at the commencement of a 
deal, are at the score of four, cannot score honours. 

5. The penalty for a revoke * takes precedence of all 
other scores. Tricks score next. Honours last. 

6. Honours, unless claimed before the trump card of 
the following deal is turned up, cannot be scored. 

* Vide Law 72. 



130 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



7. To score honours is not sufficient ; they must be 
called at the end of the hand ; if so called, they may 
be scored at any time during the game. 

8. The winners gain — 

I. A treble, or game of three points, when their 
adversaries have not scored. 
II. A double, or game of two points, when their 
adversaries have scored less than three. 
III. A single, or game of one point, when their 
adversaries have scored three, or four. 

9. The winners of the rubber gain two points (com- 
monly called the rubber points), in addition to the 
value of their games. 

10. Should the rubber have consisted of three games, 
the value of the losers' game is deducted from the gross 
number of points gained by their opponents. 

11. If an erroneous score be proved, such mistake 
can be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game in 
which it occurred, and such game is not concluded 
until the trump card of the following deal has been 
turned up. 

12. If an erroneous score, affecting the amount of the 
rubber,* be proved, such mistake can be rectified at 
any time during the rubber. 

CUTTING. 

13. The ace is the lowest card. 

14. In all cases, every one must cut from the same 
pack. 

15. Should a player expose more than one card, he 
must cut again. 

* e. g. If a single is scored by mistake for a double or 
treble, or vice versd. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



131 



FORMATION OF TABLE. 

16. If there are more than four candidates, the play- 
ers are selected by cutting : those first in the room hav- 
ing the preference. The four who cut the lowest cards 
play first, and again cut to decide on partners ; the two 
lowest play against the two highest ; the lowest is the 
dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, and, having 
once made his selection, must abide by it. 

17. When there are more than six candidates, those 
who cut the two next lowest cards belong to the table, 
which is complete with six players ; on the retirement 
of one of those six players, the candidate who cut the 
next lowest card has a prior right to any aftercomer to 
enter the table. 

CUTTING- CARDS OF EQUAL VALUE. 

18. Two players cutting cards of equal value,* unless 
such cards are the two highest, cut again ; should they 
be the two lowest, a fresh cut is necessary to decide 
which of those two deals. 

19. Three players cutting cards of equal value cut 
again ; should the fourth (or remaining) card be the 
highest, the two lowest of the new cut are partners, the 
lower of those two the dealer ; should the fourth card 
be the lowest, the two highest are partners, the original 
lowest the dealer. 

CUTTING OUT. 

20. At the end of a rubber, should admission be 
claimed by any one, or by two candidates, he who has, 
or they who have, played a greater number of consecu- 

* In cutting for partners. 



132 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



tive rubbers than the others is, or are, out; but when 
all have played the same number, they must cut to de- 
cide upon the out-goers ; the highest are out. 

ENTRY AND RE-ENTItY. 

21. A candidate wishing to enter a table must de- 
clare such intention prior to any of the players having 
cut a card, either for the purpose of commencing a 
fresh rubber, or of cutting out. 

22. In the formation of fresh tables, those candidates 
who have neither belonged to nor played at any other 
table have the prior right of entry ; the others decide 
their right of admission by cutting. 

23. Any one quitting a table prior to the conclusion 
of a rubber, may, with consent of the other three play- 
ers, appoint a substitute in his absence during that 
rubber. 

24. A player cutting into one table, whilst belonging 
to another, loses his right * of re-entry into that latter, 
and takes his chance of cutting in, as if he were a fresh 
candidate.! 

25. If any one break up a table, the remaining play- 
ers have the prior right to him of entry into any other, 
and should there not be sufficient vacancies at such 
other table to admit ail those candidates, they settle 
their precedence by cutting. 

SHUFFLING. 

26. The pack must neither be shuffled below the 
table nor so that the face of any card be seen. 

* i. e., his prior right. 

f And last in the room (vide Law 16). 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



133 



27. The pack must not be snuffled during the play 
of the hand. 

28. A pack, having been played with, must neither be 
shuffled, by dealing it into packets, nor across the table-. 

29. Each player has a right to shuffle, once only, 
except as provided by Rule 32, prior to a deal, after 
a false cut,* or when a new dealf has occurred. 

30. The dealer's partner must collect the cards for the 
ensuing deal, and has the first right to shuffle that pack. 

31. Each player, after shuffling, must place the 
cards, properly collected and face downwards, to the 
left of the player about to deal. 

32. The dealer has always the right to shuffle 
last; but should a card or cards be seen during 
his shuffling or whilst giving the pack to be cut, 
he may be compelled to re-shuffle. 

THE DEAL. 

33. Each player deals in his turn ; the right- of 
dealing goes to the left. 

34. The player on the dealer's right cuts the pack, 
and in dividing it, must not leave fewer than four 
cards in either packet; if in cutting, or in replacing 
one of the two packets on the other, a card be 
exposed, J or if there be any confusion of the cards, 
or a doubt as to the exact place in which the pack 
was divided, there must be a fresh cut. 

35. When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has once 



* Vide Law 34. f Vide Law 37. 

X After the two packets have been re-united, Law 38 
comes into operation. 



134 THE LAWS OF WHIST. 

r 

separated the pack, he cannot alter his intention; he 
can neither re-shuffle nor re- cut the cards, 

36. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle 
the cards, he loses his deal. 

A NEW DEAL. 

37. There must be a new deal* — 

I. If, during a deal, or during the play of a hand, 
the pack be proved incorrect or imperfect. 
II. If any card, excepting the last, be faced in the 
pack. 

38. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by the 
dealer or his partner, should neither of the adversaries 
have touched the cards, the latter can claim a new 
deal ; a card exposed by either adversary gives that 
claim to the dealer, provided that his partner has not 
touched a card ; if a new deal does not take place, the 
exposed card cannot be called. 

39. If, during dealing, a player touch any of his 
cards, the adversaries may do the same, without losing 
their privilege of claiming a new deal, should chance 
give them such option. 

40. If, in dealing, one of the last cards be expesed, 
and the dealer turn up the trump before there is reason- 
able time for his adversaries to decide as to a fresh 
deal, they do not thereby lose their privilege. 

41. If a player, whilst dealing, look at the trump 
card, his adversaries have a right to see it, and may 
exact a new deal. 

* i. e., the same dealer must deal again. Vide also 
Laws 47 and 50. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



135 



42. If a player take into the hand dealt to him a 
card belonging to the other pack, the adversaries, on dis- 
covery of the error, may decide whether they will have 
a fresh deal or not. 

A MISDEAL. 

43. A misdeal loses the deal.* 

44. It is a misdealf — 

I. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, 
one at a time in regular rotation, beginning 
with the player to the dealer's left. 
II. Should the dealer place the last (i. e., the 
trump) card, face downwards on his own, 
or any other pack. 

III. Should the trump card not come in its regular 

order to the dealer ; but he does not lose 
his deal if the pack be proved imperfect. 

IV. Should a player have fourteen:): cards, and 

either of the other three less than thirteen. § 
V. Should the dealer, under an impression that he 
has made a mistake, either count the cards 
on the table, or the remainder of the pack. 

VI. Should the dealer deal two cards at once, or 

two cards to the same hand, and then deal 
a third; but if, prior to dealing that third 
card, the dealer can, by altering the position 
of one card only, rectify such error, he may 
do so, except as provided by the second 
paragraph of this Law. 

VII. Should the dealer omit to have the pack cut 

to him, and the adversaries discover the 
error, prior to the trump card being turned 
up, and before looking at their cards, but 
not after having done so. 

* Except as provided in Laws 45 and 50. 
f Vide also Law 36. 
% Or more. 

§ The pack being perfect. Vide Law 47. 



7 



136 THE LAWS OF WHIST. 

45. A misdeal does not lose the deal if, during the 
dealing, either of the adversaries touch the cards prior 
to the dealer's partner having done so, but should the 
latter have first interfered with the cards, notwith- 
standing either or both of the adversaries have sub- 
sequently done the same, the deal is lost. 

46. Should three players have their right number of 
cards — the fourth have less than thirteen, and not 
discover such deficiency until he has played any of 
his cards,* the deal stands good ; should he have 
played, he is as answerable for any revoke he may 
have made as if the missing card, or cards, had been in 
his hand; f he may search the other pack for it, or them. 

47. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be proved 
incorrect or imperfect, such proof does not alter any 
past score, game, or rubber; that hand in which the 
imperfection was detected is null and void ; the dealer 
deals again. 

48. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the adver- 
sary's cards, may be stopped before the trump card is 
turned up, after which the game must proceed as if no 
mistake had been made. 

49c A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for his 
partner, without the permission of his opponents. 

50. If the adversaries interrupt a dealer whilst deal- 
ing, either by questioning the score or asserting that it 
is not his deal, and fail to establish such claim, should 
a misdeal occur, he may deal again. 

51. Should a player take his partner's deal, and mis- 
deal, the latter is liable to the usual penalty, and the 

* i. e., until after he has p ayed to the first trick. 
\Vide also Law 70, and Law 44, paragraph iv. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



137 



adversary next in rotation to the player who ought to 
have dealt then deals. 

THE TRUMP CARD. 

52. The dealer, when it is his turn to play to the first 
trick, should take the trump card into his hand; if 
left on the table after the first trick be turned and 
quitted, it is liable to be called; * his partner may at 
any time remind him of the liability. 

53. After the dealer has taken the trump card into 
his hand, it cannot be asked for ;f a player naming it 
at any time during the play of that hand is liable to 
have his highest or lowest trump called. { 

54. If the dealer take the trump card into his hand 
before it is his turn to play, he may be desired to lay 
it on the table ; should he show a wrong card, this 
card may be called, as also a second, a third, &c, 
until the trump card be produced. 

55. If the dealer declare himself unable to recollect 
the trump card, his highest or lowest trump may be 
called at any time during that hand, and, unless it 
cause him to revoke; must be played ; the call may be 
repeated, but not changed, i. e., from highest to lowest, 
or nice versa, until such card is played. 

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. 

56. All exposed cards are liable to be called, and 
must be left § on the table ; but a card is not an ex- 

* It is not usual to call the trump card if left on the table, 
f Any one may inquire what the trump suit is, at any 
time. 

% In the manner described in Law 55. 
§ Face upwards. 



138 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



posed card when dropped on the floor, or elsewhere 
below the table. 

The following are exposed * cards: — 

I. Two or more cards played at once.f 
II. Any card dropped with its face upwards, or in 
any way exposed on or above the table, even 
though snatched up so quickly that no one 
can name it. 

57. If any one play to an imperfect trick the best 
card on the table. J or lead 'one which is a winning card 
as against his adversaries, and then lead again. § or play 
several such winning cards, one after the other, without 
waiting for his partner to play, the latter may be called 
on to win, if he can, the first or any other of those 
tricks, and the other cards thus improperly played are 
exposed cards. 

58. If a player, or players, under the impression that 
the game is lost — or won — or for other reasons — throw 
his or their cards on the table face upwards, such cards 
are exposed, and liable to be called, each player's by 
the adversary : but should one player alone retain his 
hand, he cannot be forced to abandon it. 

59. If all four players throw their cards on the table 
face upwards, the hands are abandoned ; and no one 
can again take up his cards. Should this general exhi- 

* Detached cards (i. e.. cards taken out of the hand but 
not dropped) are not liable to be called unless named; 
vide Law 60. It is important to distinguish between ex- 
posed and detached cards. 

f If two or more cards are played at onee. the adversa- 
ries have a right to call which they please to the trick is 
course of play, and afterwards ro cell the others. 

X And then lead without waiting for his partner to play, 

§ Without waiting for his partner to play. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



139 



bition show that the game might have been saved, or 
won, neither claim can be entertained, unless a revoke 
be established. The revoking players are then liable to 
the following penalties : they cannot under any circum- 
stances win the game by the result of that hand, and 
the adversaries may add three to their score, or deduct 
three from that of the revoking players. 

60. A card detached from the rest of the hand so as 
to be named is liable to be called ; but should the ad- 
versary name a wrong card, he is liable to have a suit 
called when he or his partner have the lead.* 

61. If a player, who has rendered himself liable to 
have the highest or lowest of a suit called, fail to play 
as desired, or if when called on to lead one suit, lead 
another, having in his hand one or more cards of that 
suit demanded, he incurs the penalty of a revoke. 

62. If any player lead out of turn, his adversaries 
may either call the card erroneously led — or may call 
a suit from him or his partner when it is next the turn 
of either of them f to lead. 

63. If any player lead out of turn, and the other 
three have followed him, the trick is complete, and the 
error cannot be rectified ; but if only the second, or the 
second and third, have played to the false lead, their 
cards, on discovery of the mistake, are taken back; 

* i. e., the first time that side obtains the lead. 

f i. e. , the penalty of calling- a suit must be exacted from 
whichever of them next first obtains the lead. It follows 
that if the player who leads out of turn is the partner of 
the person who ought to have led, and a suit is called, it 
must be called at once from the right leader. If he is al- 
lowed to play as he pleases, the only penalty that remains 
is to call the card erroneously led. 



140 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



there is no penalty against any one, excepting the origi- 
nal offender, whose card may be called — or he, or his 
partner, when either of them * has next the lead, may 
be compelled to play any suit demanded by the adver- 
saries. 

64. In no case can a player be compelled to play a 
card which would oblige him to revoke. 

65. The call of a card may be repeated f until such 
card has been played. 

66. If a player called on to lead a suit have none of 
"it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR, OR NOT PLAYED TO A 
TRICK. 

67. If the third hand play before the second, the 
fourth hand may play before his partner. 

68. Should the third hand not have played, and the 
fourth play before his partner, the latter may be called 
on to win, or not to win the trick. 

69. If any one omit playing to a former trick, and 
such error be not discovered until he has played to the 
next, the adversaries may claim a new deal ; should 
they decide that the deal stand good, the surplus card 
at the end of the hand is considered to have been 
played to the imperfect trick, but does not constitute a 
revoke therein. 

70. If any one play two cards to the same trick, or 
mix his trump, or other card, with a trick to which it 
does not properly belong, and the mistake be not dis- 
covered until the hand is played out, he is answerable 

* i. e. , whichever of them next first has the lead, 
f At every trick. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 141 

for all consequent revokes he may have made.* If, 
during the play of the hand, the error be detected, the 
tricks may be counted face downwards, in order to 
ascertain whether there be among them a card too 
many : should this be the case they may be searched, 
and the card restored ; the player is, however, liable 
for all revokes which he may have meanwhile made. 

THE REVOKE. 

71. Is when a player, holding one or more cards of 
the suit led, plays a card of a different suit.f 

72. The penalty for a revoke : — 

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who, at the 
end of the hand, may either take three tricks 
from the revoking' player f — or deduct three 
points from his score— or add three to their 
own score ; 

II. Can be claimed for as many revokes as occur 

during the hand ; 

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in 

which it occurs ; 

IV. Cannot be divided, i. e., a player cannot add 

one or two to his own score and deduct one 
or two from the revoking player ; 
V. Takes precedence of every other score, e. g., — 
The claimants two — their opponents nothing 
— the former add three to their score — and 
thereby win a treble game, even should the 
latter have made thirteen tricks, and held 
four honours. 

73. A revoke is established, if the trick in which it 
occur be turned and quitted, i. e., the hand removed 
from that trick after it has been turned face downwards 
on the table — or if either the revoking player or his 

* Vide also Law 46. f Vide also Law 61. 

\ And add them to their own. 



142 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, lead or 
play to the following trick. 

74. A player may ask his partner whether he has 
not a card of the suit which he has renounced ; should 
the question be asked before the trick is turned and 
quitted, subsequent turning and quitting does not 
establish the revoke, and the error may be corrected, 
unless the question be answered in the negative, or 
unless the revoking player or his partner have led or 
played to the following trick. 

75. At the end of the hand, the claimants of a revoke 
may search all the tricks.* 

76. If a player discover his mistake in time to save 
a revoke, the adversaries, whenever they think fit, may 
call the card thus played in error, or may require him 
to play his highest or lowest card to that trick in 
which he has renounced ; — any player or players who 
have played after him may withdraw their cards and 
substitute others : the cards withdrawn are not liable 
to be called. 

77. If a revoke be claimed, and the accused player 
or his partner mix the cards before they have been 
sufficiently examined by the adversaries, the revoke is 
established. The mixing of the cards only renders 
the proof of a revoke difficult, but does not prevent the 
claim, and possible establishment, of the penalty. 

78. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards have 
been cut for the following deal. 

79. The revoking player and his partner may, un- 
der all circumstances, require the hand in which the 
revoke has been detected to be played out. 

* Vide Law 77. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



143 



80. If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, bets 
on the odd trick, or on amount of score, must be de- 
cided by the actual state of the latter, after the penalty 
is paid. 

81. Should the players on both sides subject them- 
selves to the penalty of one or more revokes, neither 
can win the game ; each is punished at the discretion 
of his adversary.* 

82. In whatever way the penalty be enforced, under 
no circumstances cao a player win the game by the re- 
sult of the hand during which he has revoked ; he can- 
not score more than four. (Vide Rule 61.) 

CALLING FOR NEW CARDS. 

83. Any player (on paying for them) before, but not 
after, the pack be cut for the deal, may call for fresh 
cards. He must call for two new packs, of which the 
dealer takes his choice. 

GENERAL RULES. 

84. "Where a player and his partner have an option of 
exacting from their adversaries one of two penalties, 
they should agree who is to make the election, but 
must not consult with one another which of the two 
penalties it is advisable to exact; if they do so consult 
they lose their right ; f and if either of them, with or 
without consent of his partner, demand a penalty to 
which he is entitled, such decision is final. 

This rule does not apply in exacting" the penalties for a 
revoke ; partners have then a right to consult. 

* In the manner prescribed in Law 72. 
f To demand any penalty. 



144 



THE LAWS OF WHIST. 



85. Any one during the play of a trick, or after the 
four cards are played, and before, but not after, they 
are touched for the purpose of gathering them together, 
may demand that the cards be placed before their re- 
spective players. 

86. If any one, prior to his partner playing, should 
call attention to the trick — either by saying that it is 
his, or by naming his card, or, without being required 
so to do, by drawing it towards him — the adversaries 
may require that opponent's partner to play the highest 
or lowest of the suit then led, or to win or lose * the 
trick. 

87. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, 
the offender is bound to give reasonable time for the 
decision of his adversaries. 

88. If a bystander make any remark which calls the 
attention of a player or players to an oversight affect- 
ing the score, he is liable to be called on, by the play- 
ers only, to pay the stakes and all bets on that game or 
rubber. 

89. A bystander, by agreement among the players, 
may decide any question. 

90. A card or cards torn or marked must be either 
replaced by agreement, or new cards called at the ex- 
pense of the table. 

91. Any player may demand to see the last trick 
turned, and no more. Under no circumstances can 
more than eight cards be seen during the play of the 
hand, viz. : the four cards on the table which have 
not been turned and quitted^ and the last trick 
turned. 

* i. e. , refrain from winning. 



